Wisconsin Democratic Party Chairman Ben Wikler has announced his candidacy to become the next Democratic National Committee leader.
Wikler, who served as Wisconsin Democrats’ leader for the past five years, said he is running for the role to “unite the party, fight everywhere, and win.”
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“We need to win, to stop the GOP from ripping this country apart and ripping off working people to enrich mega billionaires who funded Trump’s campaign,” Wikler said on CNN’s Inside Politics where he announced his bid.
“This is a time for Democrats to come together to learn about what we need to do and change and to start winning elections up and down the ballot for the next four years,” he continued.
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If we’re going to take on Trump, Republican extremists, and move our country forward, the Democratic Party needs to be stronger. I'm running for Chair of the Democratic National Committee to unite the party, fight everywhere, and win. Join me.
pic.twitter.com/lCAmEC6Gox
— Ben Wikler (@benwikler) December 1, 2024
The current chairman of the DNC, Jaime Harrison, is not seeking reelection and DNC members will elect a new chair on Feb. 1. Wikler is among three other contenders who have entered into the race so far: Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party Chairman Ken Martin, former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, and New York state Sen. James Skoufis.
In a state with a near-even split of registered Democrats and Republicans, Wisconsin has consistently been one of the closest states in national elections for years now. Wikler said his experience organizing and winning in the era of President-elect Donald Trump has prepared him to do so on the national stage.
“This is a purple, intense state, and what it teaches you when you fight in a state like Wisconsin is how to organize everywhere in rural areas, cities, suburbs, small towns, across race, ethnicity, gender, geography, generation, ideology,” Wikler said. “It teaches you to communicate, even to voters who may not be paying attention to what Democrats have to say.”
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“We know that we lose when voters get their information about Democrats from Republicans,” he continued.
As Democrats continue to look for answers as to what went wrong for them in the 2024 general election, Wikler said that Democrats “need to level up the intensity” and “communicate directly to working folks.”
His candidacy received high praise on social media from notable Wisconsin Democrats. Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI) called Wikler’s announcement “great news.” Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), who recently won reelection, said Wikler “built a year-round organizing machine, united democrats of all stripes, outraised our opponents, and met voters wherever they are,” and that he “knows how to win.”
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He received the endorsement of DNC member Alex Lasry, a Milwaukee Bucks executive who ran for Senate in 2022. Lasry said Democrats need to “look no further” than Wikler if they “want to win across the country, win back swing voters and rebuild the Democratic party.”
Nationally, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) previously called Wikler one of “best chairs of a state party not just today, but ever.” Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) praised Wikler’s leadership of the party while speaking at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago earlier this year.
“You know that ‘Big Ben’ is recognized nationally as a preeminent state party chair,” Pelosi said. “His reputation is a great one.”
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While leading the party, Wikler has delivered Democrats a number of wins, including Trump’s defeat there in 2020, Gov. Tony Evers’s (D-WI) reelection in 2022, and flipping the state Supreme Court and delivering a progressive majority for the first time in 15 years.
Still, Wilker’s time as Wisconsin Democrats’ leader has not been all success. Mandela Barnes, the 2022 Wisconsin Senate candidate, could not unseat Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) and Republicans have remained in control of both chambers of Wisconsin’s statehouse. The GOP control of the Wisconsin state legislature is due in part to gerrymandering, however.
