Race for DNC chair narrows after long-shot candidate drops out, endorses Minnesota’s Ken Martin
The field of candidates for the next chairman of the Democratic National Committee has narrowed after a long-term candidate dropped out and endorsed by Ken Martin, Chairman of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party of Minnesota.
Martin, a DNC vice chair who led the Democratic Party’s state chairmen’s association, is considered a front-runner for the DNC job.
Martin received a boost after New York State Sen. James Skoufis dropped out of the race and endorsed him, Politico reported Thursday morning.
Skoufis said in a statement to the outlet that Martin “will refocus on what matters most to our party: expanding the map and rebuilding our once-big Democratic tent by taking power outside the DC Beltway and pushing an unaffordable class consultant to the curb.”
DNC HIRES FORMER HARRIS STAFF BEHIND @KAMALAHQ FOR SOCIAL MEDIA ANSWERS TO TRUMP
Ken Martin, chairman of the Minnesota Democratic Farm Labor Party, speaks at the Minnesota DFL Party’s election party at the InterContinental Hotel in Saint Paul, Minnesota on November 5, 2024. (Christopher Mark Juhn/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Democrats suffered major setbacks during the vote Elections 2024 as former President Trump retook the White House and the GOP flipped the Senate and retained its fragile majority in the House.
Martin told Fox News Digital last month that if he becomes president, the first thing he will do is “come up with a plan to win.”
Minnesota DFL Chairman Ken Martin, front-runner in the race for Democratic National Committee chairman, at the DNC executive committee meeting on December 12, 2024 in Washington DC (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)
“And we have to start writing that plan, making sure we’re looking under the hood,” he said. “How much money do we have in the party? What are the contracts? What contracts do we need to get rid of? And, frankly, bringing all of our stakeholder groups together, that’s the biggest thing.”
The other two major candidates in the DNC race are Ben Wickler, who has led the state Democratic Party in Wisconsin since 2019, and Martin O’Malley, the former two-term governor of Maryland and 2016 Democratic presidential nominee who served as Social Security Administration commissioner last year.
CLICK TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
Current DNC Chair Jaime Harrison he is not seeking another four-year term at the head of the party’s national committee. The next chairman will be chosen by the approximately 450 voting members of the national party committee when they meet on February 1 in National Harbor, Maryland for the DNC’s winter meeting.
Fox News Digital’s Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.
