Democrats elect new chair as party aims to rebound following major 2024 election setbacks

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) connected Saturday elected Minnesota enactment person Ken Martin arsenic its adjacent nationalist chair, successful the aftermath of large setbacks up and down the ballot successful the 2024 elections.

The predetermination of Martin is the party's archetypal ceremonial measurement to effort and rebound from the November elections, successful which President Donald Trump recaptured the White House, and Republicans flipped the Senate, held connected to their fragile bulk successful the House and made large gains with working-class, number and younger voters.

"We person 1 team, 1 team, the Democratic Party," Martin said pursuing his victory. "The combat is for our values. The combat is for moving people. The combat close present is against Donald Trump and the billionaires who bought this country."

Martin, implicit the past 8 years, has served arsenic a DNC vice seat and has led the relation of authorities Democratic Party chairs.

FINAL DNC CHAIR DEBATE ROCKED BY PROTESTS 

Minnesota Democratic Party seat Ken Martin (left) and Wisconsin seat Ben Wikler (right), 2 starring contenders successful the Democratic National Committee seat race, astatine the DNC enforcement committee meeting, connected Dec. 12, 2024, successful Washington, D.C.  (Fox News - Paul Steinhauser)

He topped Wisconsin Democratic Party seat Ben Wikler by implicit 100 votes among the 428 DNC members who formed ballots arsenic they gathered for the party's yearly wintertime meeting, which this twelvemonth was held astatine National Harbor successful Maryland, conscionable extracurricular of Washington, D.C.

Martin O'Malley, the erstwhile two-term Maryland politician and 2016 Democratic statesmanlike campaigner who served arsenic commissioner of the Social Security Administration during erstwhile President Biden's past twelvemonth successful office, was a distant 3rd successful the voting.

Among the longshot candidates were Faiz Shakir, who ran the 2020 Democratic statesmanlike run of Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, and Marianne Williamson, who ran unsuccessfully for the 2020 and 2024 Democratic statesmanlike nominations. Williamson endorsed Martin connected Saturday, up of the vote.

The 8 candidates successful the contention were vying to win DNC Chair Jaime Harrison, who decided against seeking a 2nd consecutive four-year word steering the nationalist enactment committee.

With nary wide person successful the party, the adjacent DNC seat could go the de facto look of Democrats from seashore to seashore and volition marque large decisions connected messaging, strategy, infrastructure and wherever to walk millions successful governmental contributions.

Candidates for the Democratic National Committee instrumentality portion successful a forum astatine Georgetown University successful Washington, D.C., connected January 30, 2025. (Fox News Digital/Paul Steinhauser)

"It's an important accidental for america to not lone refocus the enactment and what we contiguous to voters, but besides an accidental for america to look astatine however we internally govern ourselves," longtime New Hampshire Democratic Party Chair Ray Buckley told Fox News Digital.

Buckley, a erstwhile DNC vice seat who backed Martin, said he's "very excited astir the imaginable of large betterment wrong the party." He emphasized that helium hoped for "significantly much enactment for the authorities parties. That's going to beryllium a captious measurement towards our instrumentality to bulk status."

In his triumph speech, Martin stressed unity and that the enactment needed "to rebuild our coalition."

"We request to spell connected offense," Martin said. "We're going to spell retired determination and instrumentality this combat to Donald Trump and the Republicans."

Former Vice President Kamala Harris, who succeeded President Biden past July arsenic the party's 2024 standard-bearer, spoke with Martin, Wikler and O'Malley successful the days up of Saturday's election, Fox News confirmed. But Harris stayed neutral successful the ballot for enactment chair.

In a video connection to the assemblage arsenic the ballot for seat was being tabulated, Harris said that the DNC has immoderate "hard enactment ahead."

But she pledged to beryllium with the enactment "every measurement of the way," which could beryllium a awesome of her aboriginal governmental ambitions.

The statement during the three-month DNC run sprint mostly focused connected the logistics of modern governmental campaigns, specified arsenic media strategy and messaging, fundraising and grassroots organizing and get-out-the-vote efforts. On those nuts-and-bolts issues, the candidates were mostly successful statement that changes are needed to triumph backmost blue-collar voters who present enactment Republicans.

But the last forum included a dense absorption connected contention and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs, issues that appeared to wounded Democrats astatine the ballot container successful November.

A protester is removed by information aft heckling astatine a Democratic National Committee seat predetermination statement astatine Georgetown University successful Washington, D.C., Jan. 30, 2025. (Fox News/Paul Steinhauser)

The forum, moderated and carried unrecorded connected MSNBC and held astatine Georgetown University successful Washington, D.C., devolved into chaos aboriginal connected arsenic a question of left-wing protesters repeatedly interrupted the primetime event, heckling implicit concerns of clime alteration and billionaires' power successful America's elections earlier they were forcibly removed by security.

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The seat predetermination took spot arsenic a caller nationalist canvass spelled much occupation for the Democrats.

Only 31% of respondents successful a Quinnipiac University survey conducted implicit the past week had a favorable sentiment of the Democratic Party, with 57% seeing the enactment successful an unfavorable light.

"This is the highest percent of voters having an unfavorable sentiment of the Democratic Party since the Quinnipiac University Poll began asking this question," the survey's merchandise noted. 

Meanwhile, 43% of those questioned had a favorable presumption of the GOP, with 45% holding an unfavorable opinion, which was the highest favorable sentiment for the Republican Party ever successful Quinnipiac polling.