Dems fret over chair after autopsy
The Democratic National Committee was already in a hole. Democrats are worried that Ken Martin will deepen the issue further.
Martin’s decision release and then reject messy image autopsy Democrats’ losses in 2024 have increased calls for struggling Minnesotans to step aside and rattled donors hesitant to cut checks to a party already deeply in debt.
That was an inevitable subtext when Martin on Friday urged donors to refocus on the party’s midterm elections, according to a Democratic donor adviser who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the situation.
Longtime party activists are reaching out to donors and elected officials to pressure Martin to resign and brainstorming potential replacements for two people involved in the talks who were granted anonymity. Other Democrats, including former Montana Sen. Jon Tester, are beginning to wish for their successors. rejected the idea In a colorful response to POLITICO, as well as former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, former New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu, former Rep. Joe Kennedy III and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
Whitmer and Kennedy, both aides, are not involved, and McAuliffe and Landrieu did not respond to requests for comment.
The Progressive Change Campaign Committee, which last year backed one of Martin’s rivals to lead the DNC, is now Putting pressure on state party leaders to leave him arouses the ire of one of his best allies. However, some state leaders publicly close ranks behind him. The bar for removing Martin is high, both logistically and because of the deep relationships he has developed within the committee over the years he has led the Association of State Democratic Chairmen and its program. Increasing financing for state parties. It’s also unclear whether anyone wants the job.
Still, frustration is growing among DNC members. It’s aimed both at Martin and at the broader Democratic ecosystem, which they say has become a circular firing squad when the party needs to portray Republicans as the ones in disarray. Martin’s conduct of the post-mortem threatens to further diminish the power of an already troubled party apparatus that is mired in debt and steadily trails its GOP counterpart in fundraising. Some longtime Democratic Party members worry that the beleaguered party chairman won’t be able to convince donors to keep cutting checks, raising questions about his ability to lead the party through midterm elections and into a key presidential race.
“This undermined whatever credibility the DNC had left,” said a former high-ranking DNC official, agreeing to remain anonymous to speak candidly. “If you can’t raise the money — and the DNC doesn’t have any money right now — how do you fund the state party organizations that are the backbone of voter turnout, which is what this is all about?”
Martin promised to meet separately with DNC staff and members on Thursday and asked for their continued support. He was in Mississippi on Friday headline a fundraiser for the state party.
“This was a big mistake. This is on me,” he said, according to a recording of the DNC recruiting call obtained by POLITICO. “It is now time for us to move forward at the DNC, and I hope you will move forward with me.”
Some donors are clearly sticking with it. Ursula Terrasi, a donor from Kansas City, Missouri, noted Democrats’ victories during her tenure, including last year’s gubernatorial races in New Jersey and Virginia. In an interview Friday, he called Martin a “great chair” and said shaking things up at such a critical time would be detrimental.
“A lot of us think he’s the right guy right now. He’s got a lot of experience at states, and that’s where we need to win,” Terrasi said. “The quarterback on Monday morning is not helping those of us who are working on the field every day to help us win at this critical moment.”
Taking down Martin would be a tall order. He made powerful allies, including Nebraska Democratic Party Chairwoman Jane Kleeb, ASDC chairwoman and New Hampshire Democratic Party Chairperson Ray Buckley. Both state parties issued statements supporting Martin. Many DNC members have said they do not believe there is enough support for a no-confidence vote and that any real effort to impeach Martin would have to come from political pressure from House and Senate Democratic leaders. Even if someone else wanted the job, the historically risk-averse party would likely be reluctant to enact major change ahead of a critical interim period.
“He will not be impeached,” said Robert Zimmerman, a longtime DNC member from New York who supported then-Wisconsin Democratic Party Chairman Ben Wikler for president last year but is now behind Martin. “This is truly a matter for political pundits with no life and media without a story. We literally have six months to save our democracy. The energy and focus needs to be on this mission.”
Still, Democrats outside the DNC are trying to take matters into their own hands, and many groups are trying to do their own 2024 autopsy — including a new one this week – they say offers more comprehensive assessments of the party’s failings and how to move forward.
Democrats still worry that Martin’s missteps will exacerbate the party’s financial woes.
The DNC already takes a backseat to the party’s House and Senate campaign arms in non-presidential years. Other committees have moved to fill the gap, dating back at least to when President Barack Obama abandoned the Action Organization. Caused a rift that damaged the DNC.
While the DNC has improved some fundraising from small-dollar donors, big donors are more likely to sit on the sidelines and hurt the party’s cash flow. It’s often harder for a party out of power in Washington to raise money from big donors. But the decline has been particularly sharp for the DNC compared to other Democratic Party groups, including the party’s House and Senate campaign arms.
Compared to the 2022 election cycle, the number of megadonors, roughly defined as donors giving more than $100,000, has dropped sharply for the DNC; The Democratic Senate Campaign Committee and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee saw only minor declines. But the data shows that big Democratic donors haven’t completely abandoned the party establishment — more than 120 donors gave at least $100,000 to the DCCC or DSCC — compared with about 40 donations to the DNC.
Martin still brings cash. Before the post-mortem was announced, the DNC raised nearly $100,000 from a fundraiser outside Boston last week as it scouted the city for its 2028 convention, according to a person familiar with the event.
Still, Tory Gavito, president of Way to Win, a liberal donor network that supports Wikler’s presidency, said Martin’s handling of the autopsy “felt like a real breach of trust.”
“This is a dangerous moment,” Gavito said. “And if it were my job right now to make sure the DNC’s coffers were as full as possible, I think that would be very difficult.”
Shia Kapos and Jessica Piper contributed to this report.
