Shasti Conrad, seeking DNC post, says WA can be model for national Dems
By David Gutman The Seattle Times
SEATTLE – Shasti Conrad thinks Washington can be a model for national Democrats.
Conrad, the chair of the Washington State Democratic Party, is running for a leadership position in the national party, touting the relative success of Democrats in Washington amid a veritable drubbing nationally.
Democrats lost the presidency and the Senate in 2024, treaded water in the House, and lost ground in nearly every state, compared with 2020 results.
But in Washington, Democrats won.
Kamala Harris won the state by nearly the same margin that Joe Biden won it by in 2020, even as the nation as a whole shifted about 6 points toward Donald Trump. Washington Democrats won every statewide office, defended perhaps the most hotly contested House race in the country (in Southwest Washington where Marie Gluesenkamp Perez again defeated Joe Kent) and added seats in the state Legislature.
Conrad is running to be a vice chair of the Democratic National Committee as the regrouping party will choose a new slate of leaders next month to lead it into the 2026 and 2028 elections.
The party will elect four vice chairs at its meeting Feb. 1. The position is decidedly in the shadow of the chair, who will lead the party. Vice chair is a part-time position and Conrad would remain as state party chair were she to win. Around 20 people have announced campaigns for vice chair.
“There’s some lessons of how we did things here in Washington state that I want to bring to the national party,” Conrad said.
Chief among those is making the party a year-round, full-time organizing operation. Conrad points to the state party’s long-term, year-round staff as a key to success, in comparison to some less-resourced state parties that lie fallow in nonelection years.
Conrad said the state party has about 10 full-time employees even in odd years, a number that swelled to around 45 before November’s elections.
“We have real resources, real personnel, real organizing that is happening beyond just the final few months of an election cycle and that investment really does make a big difference,” Conrad said.
Conrad, 40, has led the state Democratic Party since 2023. She was the youngest chair in the state party’s history and the first woman of color to serve as chair. She is also the first Indian American woman to serve as a state party chair anywhere in the country.
A political consultant, she previously chaired the King County Democratic Party for five years. She worked on both of former President Barack Obama’s presidential campaigns and in the Obama White House. She also worked on Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ 2016 and 2020 presidential campaigns.
Conrad said she wanted to ensure there “was representation at the DNC,” at a time when the leading candidates to chair the party are white men.
Conrad also pointed to Democratic policy wins in Washington as a reason for the party’s political wins.
Washington has the highest minimum wage in the country, a generous paid family leave program and recently passed climate legislation, a long-term care program and a capital gains tax.
“That gave us other things to talk about,” Conrad said. “You have to build trust where you’re delivering for people cycle after cycle. I think all of that does sort of create an electorate that is a lot more willing and open to continue to support Democrats.”
The national party, Conrad said, “Really muddled the message.”
“We were sort of running on like 17 things and weren’t clear,” she said. “Where we missed the mark is we lectured at people. We made a message that felt like we were leaving different groups out by prioritizing other groups.”
Democratic policies, Conrad argued, succeeded even where Democratic politicians failed. Voters approved minimum wage increases in Alaska and Missouri, Democratic deserts. Montana and Nevada moved toward enshrining abortion rights, even as Democrats faltered.
“What we deliver on people actually like,” Conrad said.
Conrad declined to say who she’s supporting for DNC chair. Top candidates include former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley and state party chairs Ken Martin of Minnesota and Ben Wikler of Wisconsin.