Cnn
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Democrats will choose their next president of the National Party and Management Team on Saturday, closing a one -month debate on who is best suited to help the party rename and guide him in the next four years of the Trump administration.
Three candidates have become the main pretenders to lead the National Democratic Committee: the president of the Democratic-Democratic Angricole Ken Martin, the president of the Wisconsin Democratic Party, Ben Wikler, and the former governor of Maryland, Martin O’malley.
The election of new party leaders intervenes while the Democrats clashed with the most effective means of challenging the torrent of the action stimulated by the White House of Trump, which included this week the president who blames diversity for a Collision Aircraft DC Mortelle, a freezing of federal financing This was canceled in less than 48 hours in the midst of general reactions and confirmation hearings for three controversial candidates from the firm.
Those who are looking for the best job of the party indicated that without a national leader, the Democrats had not approached what some called the “chaos” of the last days with enough strength. During their last candidates forum on Friday, hopes of chair were invited to raise their hands if he thought that the Democratic Party had responded “enough” in the first weeks of Trump’s second term. Most candidates – including Martin, Wikler and O’malley – kept hands.
“Right now, our group feels frankly apathetic. One has the impression that there is no one at the helm, “said David Hogg, an activist for the firearms control who presents himself for a post of president of the DNC. “We need leadership, we need a vision for the way to follow, and this is one of the most important parts of these elections.”
In addition to choosing the next president, the members of the DNC elect seven additional officers: a vice-president of civic engagement and the participation of voters; a treasurer; a secretary; a national finance president; and three presidents of Vice-Large.
To win, a candidate will need a majority of votes expressed. There are 450 voting members of the DNC, but the final number required to win will depend on attendance.
In the days preceding the elections, the three frontrunners released dozens of approvals of key democrats, some of which are able to vote in the elections.
Shortly after Martin announced that he had been supported by the representative of South Carolina, Jim Clyburn, whose approval helped the former president Joe Biden to win the 2020 Democratic primary, Wikler announced that He had the support of President Emerita Nancy Pelosi and the minority head of the Hakeem Jeffries room.
A key democrat is likely to stay outside the race: the former vice-president Kamala Harris. Although the party has spent weeks debating what was wrong during its presidential campaign in 2024, Harris should not approve a candidate in the race, according to a familiar source.
Harris spoke on the phone this week with the three main candidates of the race, said a person familiar with the discussions. In the calls, which each lasted around 15 to 20 minutes, the candidates discussed their visions for the party and expressed their gratitude to Harris for his candidacy and his commitment to remain involved in party efforts in the future. The former vice-president undertook to work closely with the winning candidate as soon as they are elected, said the source.
Without Democratic President at the White House, party leadership will be fractured over the next four years. And with the Democrats in minority both in the Chamber and in the Senate, a large part of the accent on Capitol Hill will aim to block the Trump agenda rather than to advance the political priorities of the party.
The next chair will be responsible for helping to guide the party forward as it seeks to bounce after spicy losses last November. In addition to fundraising and messaging, the president will also help direct the 2028 appointment process and create a waiting campaign for the possible Democratic candidate.
They will also have to unite the Committee and solve several internal problems, including anger at a wave of layoffs last year, the requests for increased transparency concerning budgets and expenses, and frustration with campaign consultants.
The leaders of the State Party, in particular in non-Battle States, pushed the chair candidates to offer to invest more in their states and the basic members called for a more democratized process to access the exclusive committees composed of named people.
“I have never attended a meeting of the DNC where I left and I said:” Huh, I learned something “, told Stéphanie Campanha Wheaton, one of the young Democrats of members of The American DNC and a supporter of Martin, at CNN. “You present yourself and you are a pawn, and you nod yes to everything that has already been decided in the committees you don’t know how people have taken.”
At the heart of the management elections is the desire to give meaning to the losses of the party in 2024 and to trace a path of political darkness. In more than a dozen forums – from the four events managed by the parties to several prisoners by external groups and voting blocks within the DNC – the questions have focused on how to win back young men and voters of the working class, how to fight against disinformation and the way of making better use of millions of dollars for the party.
“It is a sign of a healthy part of questioning, struggling, reflecting on the way to follow,” said Tory Gavito, a donor and the president of Way to Win, a coalition of donors directed by women who co-organized a DNC forum with the Texas Democratic Party. “And in this debate, the goal is to win.”
Martin, Vice-President of the DNC who directs the association of State Democratic Committees and chaired his state party since 2011, came first in the race and was an early precocious thanks to his relations of several years with the leaders of various public parties and other DNC members
Joe Salas, member of the DNC in California, supporting Martin, said that he thought that the Minnesota chair included the important role of local committees. On the personal level, he said that Martin was the only leader of the high -ranking DNC to send him a congratulating card welcoming him to the DNC when he was elected last year.
“It goes to his point on the organization all year round: you cannot come to someone a few months before an election and ask them to do something,” said Salas. “You have to make deposits before making withdrawals.”
Wikler experienced a late support increase fueled by the main endorsements of a group of Democratic governors – including members of the DNC vote, Laura Kelly, Kansas, Andy Beshear of Kentucky, Gretchen Whitmer from Michigan and Michelle Lujan Grisham, New Mexico – and four major public sector unions Sector Unions – and four unions unions public unions, which has published a joint declaration.
Many DNC voters Approoct the Approutor underlined its history in the Wisconsin since it became president in 2019, in particular by winning a liberal majority at the Supreme Court of the State which paved the way for more legislative cards competitive.
“We had the impression that Ben Wikler was the one who could strengthen the power of workers and extend the basis of the party,” said Randi Weingarten, president of the American teachers’ federation, of joint approval.
In addition to the rear, Wikler was supported by the leaders of the American State, County and Municipal Employees, National Education Association and the service of international employees. Other unions have divided their support from the main candidates.
O’malley, meanwhile, has recovered the public support from a handful of DNC members and high -level Democrats such as the Senator of Virginia Tim Kaine. His criticism from Martin and Wikler have also become more sharp.
Former Wikler ribbed governor for refusing to freely free a list of donors to his chair campaign before a deadline for Friday evening FEC and suggested that Martin’s support is not as strong as he It appears during a group with journalists after a candidate forum on Thursday.
“When the totally inevitable front runner, which has worked there for five years, is not completely inevitable, I think it opens for a wider debate,” said O’malley.
Before the vote for the president, no candidate seemed to have enough support to win on the first ballot. Several DNC members said they expect the race to go to additional voting cycles.
A member of the DNC who asked not to be appointed to speak freely, said they thought that support for Wikler and Martin could change if none won the first ballot.
“If this goes to a second ballot, it could be a full upheaval,” said the DNC member.
Friday, the three main candidates claimed to have levels of support which, if they were confronted, would far exceed the number of real voting members. Wikler’s campaign said he had 183 opinions from 183 and that O’malley said he had 137 mentions, although most of their names have remained private. Martin had published the names of around 200 donors by Friday evening, dozens more than his competitors made public.
“In the end, we will discover the first ballot that is above,” said another DNC voter. “Let us be honest – if a candidate says that he has x votes and that he arrives in 20, 30% less than that, the rest of his voters will wonder: if they were sold an act of goods on the force of was their candidacy? ”