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Ken Martin was selected as the new leader of the US Democratic Party on Saturday, stepping into a role marked by the need to recover from last year’s heavy presidential defeat. His immediate focus will be guiding the party through its rebuilding phase and determining the best approach to counter Republican Donald Trump.
“The Democratic Party is the party of working people, and it’s time to roll up our sleeves and outcompete everywhere, in every election, and at every level of government,” he said in a statement.
The 51-year-old progressive activist, a figure who hasn’t garnered widespread recognition outside the Democratic base, underscored the critical need to re-engage with working-class voters and extend the electoral campaign across all 50 states, including those with strong conservative leanings.
“Today’s elections mark a new chapter in DNC leadership, and Donald Trump and his billionaire allies are put on notice — we will hold them accountable for ripping off working families, and we will beat them at the ballot box,” Martin said.
Party grandees are meeting in a large hotel near Washington, where members of the Democratic National Committee, the party’s governing body, are carrying out a postmortem of their November loss.
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Martin, previously the chair of the Minnesota branch, has been tasked with crafting the party’s national strategy as they chart their path ahead.
“This is not a game of chess where everyone is moving their pieces back and forth in a respectful, timed manner. This is guerilla warfare in political form,” said Katherine Jeanes, deputy digital director of the North Carolina Democratic Party, ahead of the vote.
Maryland Governor Wes Moore, a rising Democratic star, warned ahead of the vote that the party must “not to go into hiding until the next general election.”
The moment calls for boldness, added Shasti Conrad, chair of the party’s Washington state branch, warning that many Americans have lost the faith.
“They don’t trust us to be able to make things better. They don’t trust that when we are given power, that we know how to use it,” Conrad said.
And the fight starts now, she added — there can be no waiting until the next presidential election, set for 2028.
Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidate and former vice president, won in Martin’s Minnesota but fell short in securing traditionally conservative states across the central US. Now, confronted with a Republican majority in Congress and a second term for Trump — who returns with the same combative rhetoric as before — Democrats understand the importance of carefully picking their battles.
