NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� One day after the Democratic National Committee released its , party leaders continued limping toward the midterm elections 鈥� even as other prominent Democrats at the very top of the organization.
Ken Martin, the committee’s chair, faced new calls to resign from elected officials and Democratic operatives, who say he mismanaged a report originally intended to be a comprehensive examination of the party鈥檚 failures and a potential road map for its future. Martin kept the document under wraps for months, stoking speculation about its contents, only to release it this week and insist it was too flawed to be useful anyway.
鈥淭here doesn鈥檛 seem to be a plan to turn things around and the clock is ticking. November is literally around the corner,鈥� Rep. Marc Veasey, D-Texas, told Semafor. 鈥淚 believe it鈥檚 time for him to move on.鈥�
鈥淗e should resign,鈥� Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., said to Axios.
And in a radio interview, Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Wisc., said he agreed with a caller saying Martin should be replaced.
But Martin maintains support from many state party leaders, who have benefited from a steady stream of funding from national headquarters since he took over. In a conversation with DNC staff on Thursday, Martin apologized for his handling of the autopsy and said he was determined to continue leading the organization.
鈥淭his was a major mistake. I own it, and now it鈥檚 time for us to move forward at the DNC, and I hope that you鈥檒l move forward with me,鈥� Martin said, according to a person with knowledge of the call who was not authorized to disclose a private conversation.
Martin, a little-known Minnesota operative before emerging last year as the head of the national party鈥檚 formal political machine, has already faced criticism for dismal fundraising and inability to inspire confidence among his party’s unruly membership.
However, there was no sign that a serious alternative was emerging. The Associated Press contacted a half dozen Democratic presidential prospects to gauge their support for Martin and all of them declined to weigh in.
The intraparty feud represented an extraordinary distraction for a Democratic Party showing signs of momentum in its fight to break President Donald Trump’s grip on power in Washington. Democrats hope to regain majorities in the U.S. House and U.S. Senate in the November midterms, and Republicans could be vulnerable because of , dissatisfaction over the war in Iran and lingering economic frustration.
Martin’s allies across the country lashed out at Democrats who were fueling the election-year drama, dismissing them as unhappy consultants and supporters of Martin’s previous rivals for DNC leadership.
Kansas Democratic Party Chair Jeanna RePass described calls for the first-term chair to step down as 鈥渞idiculous and dangerous.鈥�
鈥淚t is dangerous for Democrats to be playing politics with our leadership when these elections are five and a half months away,鈥� she said. 鈥淭he American people are counting on us.鈥�
Janet Kleeb of Nebraska, who leads her state party and the DNC’s association of state committees, said the fighting 鈥渋s nuts.鈥�
鈥淚 haven鈥檛 had a single chair come to me saying I think Ken needs to resign,鈥� she said. 鈥淜en was elected by the DNC members to do a four-year term, and he has not violated any of our rules or bylaws where there would be a two-thirds vote, right? Because that鈥檚 what it would take to remove the chair.鈥�
Kleeb added, 鈥淭hese reports are such distraction.鈥�
The long-awaited postelection autopsy said 鈥渨rote off rural America鈥� during the 2024 presidential campaign and failed to attack Trump with sufficient 鈥渘egative firepower,鈥� among other key findings.
Martin shared the 192-page report only after facing from Democratic operatives. He originally promised to release the autopsy even before taking over the committee last year, only to keep it under wraps because he worried it would interfere with Democrats鈥� focus on the November midterms.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 want to create a distraction,鈥� Martin wrote on Substack. 鈥淚ronically, in doing so, I ended up creating an even bigger distraction. And for that, I sincerely apologize.鈥�
Although the autopsy criticizes Democrats鈥� focus on 鈥渋dentity politics,鈥� it sidesteps some of the most controversial elements of the 2024 campaign. The report does not address former President Joe Biden鈥檚 decision to seek reelection, the to replace him after or the party鈥檚 acrimonious divide over .
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Kinnard reported from Columbia, South Carolina.
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