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REUTERS/Hannah Beier/file photo Members of the Democratic National Committee listen to the Party chair of the Democratic Party Jaime Harrison speak during the Democratic National Committee winter meeting in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S., February 4, 2023.
The Washington Post / Michael Scherer
12:31 JST, November 26, 2024
The Democratic National Committee announced Monday that new leadership elections will be held Feb. 1, following a series of public candidate forums in January, to determine the next chair of the party after an electoral drubbing in November that lost Democrats the White House and the Senate.
The current party chair, Jaime Harrison, who has run the DNC since 2021 in conjunction with President Joe Biden’s advisers, will not seek another term and has said he will run a neutral process.
“As my time as Chair comes to a close and we prepare to undertake the critical work of holding the Trump Administration and Republican Party accountable for their extremism and false promises, we are beginning to lay out the process for upcoming DNC officer elections in the New Year,” Harrison said Monday in a statement.
He added, “Our staff will run an inclusive and transparent process that gives members the opportunity to get to know the candidates as they prepare to cast their votes.”
The stakes of the internal party election are particularly high given the state in which the recent elections left the party, with control of no federal governing body, significant erosion among core voting constituencies and significant internal debate about the best way forward.
Under Biden, Democrats remade the presidential nominating calendar, replacing traditional early states such as Iowa and New Hampshire with a starting order of South Carolina, Nevada and Michigan. Party officials said last year that those decisions would be revisited after the November elections.
The new chair will also have the power to shape fundraising, decide investment priorities and shape the public branding of Democrats heading into the 2026 midterm elections. After that, the chair will be charged with designing a 2028 presidential debate process and determining the location of the party’s 2028 nominating convention.
Without a sitting president, House speaker or Senate majority leader, the new Democratic chair could have significant independent power – potentially until the party nominates its presidential candidate in 2028, when that person will become the de facto party leader.
The current 448 active members of the DNC, including 200 members elected by state parties and others appointed by Biden’s team, will be eligible to vote at the end of a three-day meeting in National Harbor, Maryland, that is set to begin Jan. 30.
Harrison said four candidate forums will be held in January, open to the public and live-streamed, so potential party leaders can present their governing visions.
In addition to the chair, three vice chairs will be elected Feb. 1, along with a new secretary, treasurer and national finance chair. All positions will have four-year terms, according to party officials. The Rules and Bylaws Committee of the DNC plans to meet Dec. 12 to formalize the process.
Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party Chair Ken Martin and former Maryland governor Martin O’Malley have both announced that they will run for party chair, and other candidates are expected to join the race in the coming weeks.
