A leading candidate to become the next chairman of the Democratic National Committee is heading into the final weeks of the campaign with a broad coalition of party faithful supporting him.
The campaign for Ken Martin, the leader of Minnesota’s arm of the Democratic Party, first revealed to CBS News that the Midwesterner now has 51 endorsements around the country from current state party chairs and vice chairs, including more than 20 who had not been publicly known.
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Significantly, each of the endorsements for Martin come from Democrats who actually have a vote in the Feb. 1 chair election and the new details mean Martin has 86 public endorsements from voting members, according to his campaign.
Martin’s map of support covers a large part of the country, from reliably Democratic strongholds like Washington State to the conservative areas of Utah and Wyoming and the key presidential battlegrounds of Arizona and Pennsylvania. These endorsements for Martin come from Democrats who each actually have a vote in the Feb. 1 chair election, according to his campaign.
Other officials supporting Martin include party leaders from Indiana, Alaska, Maine, Vermont, Nebraska, North Dakota and Ohio.
Democrats are making their decisions in the chair’s race as they continue to navigate the fallout of a difficult election cycle where they lost the White House, Senate and failed to retake control of the House. Losing once again to GOP president-elect Donald Trump has opened the door for Democrats to chart a new path for the party, amid the deep concern on the left about their election performance.
Martin isn’t the only candidate looking to lead the party who is earning notable endorsements however.
Wisconsin Democratic Party Chair Ben Wikler has also been building a notable amount of support that includes Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, Michigan Democratic Party Chair Lavora Barnes and North Carolina Democratic Party chair Anderson Clayton. Competing chair candidate Maryland Martin O’Malley recently announced the support of former DNC chair and current Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine.
The field of people running to lead the DNC also includes former presidential candidate Marianne Williamson, along with a group of other contenders. The next chair is set to take over a party that is essentially leaderless at this stage and eager to build momentum towards the 2026 midterms and the 2028 presidential election.
