Ken Martin wins race to become chair of the Democratic National Committee as party looks to find its footing

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Ken Martin wins race to become chair of the Democratic National Committee as party looks to find its footing

National Harbor, Maryland – Ken Martin, the chair of Minnesota’s arm of the Democratic party, will become the new leader of the Democratic National Committee after winning during the first round of voting as the party attempts to rebound from a challenging election cycle. 

In his acceptance speech, Martin looked to unify the party after a somewhat contentious chair race.

“The fight’s not in here. The fight is for our values. The fight is for working people. The fight right now is against Donald Trump and the billionaires who bought this country,” Martin said.

To come back from the Democrats’ presidential election loss, Martin laid out a few things he said the party needs to accomplish, including to unite and to go on the offense.

“Trump’s first leads have shown us that what happens when amateur hour meets demolition derby, right? And at the same time, he’s invited all these billionaires into the Oval Office to mine, extract and profit off of our government,” the new DNC chair said in his victory speech. “This is our time right now. It’s the People’s Government. It’s not another resource for ultra elites to exploit.”

The DNC chair position is primarily technical and behind the scenes: They help raise money for the party, manage the party’s top-level infrastructure and organize coordinated efforts among the Democratic state parties. The race has been primarily focused on how severely the party should react to widespread 2024 losses, especially when it comes to regaining the support of working class voters. 

Saturday’s election represented Democrats’ first major answer to the 2024 presidential election that saw the party lose the White House, Senate and fail to retake the House.

The tumultuous election cycle has sent the party reeling and essentially without a singular party leader as Democrats search for a winning message and vision ahead of the 2026 midterms and the 2028 presidential election.

Speaking to reporters following his win, Martin said he will not have his thumb on the scale in determining which primary is first for the Democrats in 2028.

“It’s really important that the process of putting forward our nominating calendar is open and transparent, meaning that any state that wants to participate should have a chance to be heard,” he said.

Six candidates ended up running on Saturday to lead the DNC, including former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, Wisconsin Democratic Party Chairman Ben Wikler and Martin, the leader of Minnesota’s arm of the Democratic Party. Faiz Shakir, the former presidential campaign manager for Sen. Bernie Sanders’ 2020 effort was also a contender. 

Martin won the chair race with 246.5 votes, compared to 134.5 for Wikler, 44 for O’Malley and 2 for Shakir. 

Without a Democratic president in the White House, the new chair is expected to have broad influence in the years to come. And despite tensions in the race becoming more heated in recent weeks, the DNC leadership race was focused very little on ideology, evidenced by the lack of marquee names that would likely be known to an average voter. 

Protesters interrupted the meeting ahead of the vote, reflecting some of the simmering divisions that troubled the party in 2024 and linger after President Trump’s presidential victory.

Martin headed into Saturday with a large number of party endorsements from the field of Democrats who had a vote in the contest. But Wikler was able to tout notable support from House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. 

Those prominent names, however, did not keep Martin from winning on the first ballot Saturday. 

More from CBS News

Hunter Woodall

Hunter Woodall is a political editorial producer for CBS News. He covered the 2020 New Hampshire primary for The Associated Press and has also worked as a Kansas statehouse reporter for The Kansas City Star and the Washington correspondent for Minnesota’s Star Tribune.

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