Democratic National Committee will choose new leadership on Saturday in a first step to rebuilding after 2024 losses and cracks in the party’s big tent coalition.
President Donald Trump‘s defeat of former Vice President Kamala Harris left Democrats without a clear leader in 2025 or a strategy for retaking power from Republicans who enjoy total control of Washington.
Outgoing Chairman Jaime Harrison, who grew emotional in his closing speech on Friday, predicted the loss of power can give way to a reboot for the Democratic Party.
“I can tell you, it is a very different DNC when you have the White House and you don’t have [the White House],” Harrison said. “The culture changes, what you are able to do changes.”
The new DNC chairman would be tasked with shaping the party’s vision to make gains in the 2026 midterm elections for Congress and flip the White House in 2028.
Two candidates, Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party leader Ken Martin and Wisconsin Democratic Party Chairman Ben Wikler, are the front-runners in a field of eight contenders.
The race has been largely cordial, though some grassroots organizers and left-wing activists say they’ve been shut out as the party tries to move to the center in the Trump era.
Joseph Geevarghese, executive director of Our Revolution, a progressive group first started by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), accused the DNC of excluding grassroots activists from attending a Thursday night candidate forum at Georgetown University.
“The fact that the DNC does not want to hear from the grassroots who do the work, election after election, is incredibly problematic,” Geevarghese told the Washington Examiner. “So you have this insular group of 448, people making decisions. And I would honestly argue that, you know, some of the people who got us in this mess shouldn’t be the ones deciding where we go forward.”
Our Revolution has not endorsed a candidate for the DNC election.
But it has instead released a memo calling for the contenders to reject corporate funds, invest in state and grassroots organizing, demand budget transparency, and unite the party around a pro-worker, pro-climate, and pro-democracy agenda.
Meanwhile, the centrist group Third Way called for 2028 Democratic presidential candidates to reject any pledges from progressives in a new memo.
“We must never again let our candidates fall prey to the siren song of far-left groups who claim, without evidence, to speak for our coalition and offer a path to the nomination,” the memo states.
The “Reject the Pledges” memo implores potential candidates to refuse the untenable demands of left-wing groups. “Don’t even consider adopting these positions, or anything like them.”
Despite the disagreements about whether the party should eschew progressive-leaning ideology in favor of more moderate views, DNC candidates have said the party must do more to appeal to working-class voters.
“This is a big family food fight, and it’s not personal. All these candidates that are bringing ideas to the table are great, great servant leaders, and I’m excited about whichever one wins,” Martin said in remarks to the Midwestern regional caucus. “But let me tell you, come Sunday, we have got to unify our parties, focus on the fight in front of us, and we’ve got to be ready to truly roll up our sleeves, push back, organize, and win.”
Faiz Shakir, a former campaign manager for Sanders and longshot DNC chairman candidate, expressed frustration with Harris for embracing the billionaire Mark Cuban as a move that undercut her populist appeal.
“If you’re a working-class party, you have to reject billionaire influence. You have to be willing to stand with striking and organizing workers,” Shakir told the Washington Examiner.
Frustrations with party leadership have spilled out into the public.
At the final DNC candidate forum on Thursday, young climate protesters with the Sunrise Movement repeatedly interrupted the discussion, to the frustration of the MSNBC hosts moderating the event.
The next day, Harrison, the outgoing DNC chairman, rebuked the disruptive tactics as members gathered at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center.
“We don’t always agree on every single thing. But what we must always do is respect every single person,” he cautioned before issuing a threat. “I am telling you all right now, if we have what had happened last night here in this room, I will clear out this room and it will only be DNC members.”
The election on Saturday comes just as Democrats appear to uniting on a tactic to push back against Trump’s leadership in Washington.
After a Thursday press conference where the president blamed the tragic crash at Reagan National Airport on diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, Democrats rushed to condemn his comments.
“When this country needed comfort, we got chaos. When this country needed healing, we got hatred,” said Gov. Wes Moore (D-MD) in a rebuke of Trump’s comments to DNC members.
Democratic governors have become some of the most vocal antagonists against Trump as congressional Democrats struggled with how to counter the president.
But Trump’s DEI comments and the quick rescinding of a memo freezing federal grants and loans have led to congressional Democrats taking a victory lap, hoping the backlash can help them claw back power during the 2026 midterm elections.
Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) told reporters that Democrats should continue to call out Trump’s campaign failures to the public, especially on whether inflation and grocery prices are going down.
“Is he cutting prices? And if he’s not, what’s he doing to address that and show that he’s not cutting prices,” said Cortez Masto, who represents a swing and early-voting state. “Quite frankly … he’s not.”
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) slammed the GOP during his address to DNC members on Friday but used it as a messaging strategy ahead of the midterm elections.
“Today’s GOP is the greed over people party. They’ve destroyed Lincoln’s party of liberty and union,” Raskin said. “And who’s going to beat them in 2026? The Democrats.”
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), chairwoman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee for the 2026 cycle, singled out at least two battleground states with Senate races Democrats are hoping to flip in her speech to DNC members.
“No. 1 race is going to be Georgia,” Gillibrand said. “You know, Georgia can be a red state, but it can also be a blue state. So we have Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA), who has proven that he can get it done and win a tough race when he defeated his last Republican incumbent, David Perdue.”
“In North Carolina, Sen. [Thom] Tillis will be our top target,” she added. “He narrowly won in 2020, and I think with the right candidate, we will win this race.”
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DNC leadership elections will take place on Saturday, and a candidate will need to win the majority of the 448 DNC members to become the next chairman.
Whoever wins will begin the arduous task of rebuilding a 50-state and seven-territory strategy to lead Democrats to victory in the ensuing two to four years.
