The race for new Democratic leadership is about to heat up

The Democratic National Committee will hold leadership elections on Feb. 1, 2025. The move was announced on Monday through a statement.

Jaime Harrison, the current chair, has chosen not to run again following his party’s defeat in the 2024 presidential election, where Democrat Kamala Harris lost to Republican Donald Trump. Now, Democratic leadership is figuring out how to rebuild the party, what policies it will platform, and how it will oppose Trump moving forward. But first, it has to figure out who will lead it. 

“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,” said Harrison. “The DNC is committed to running a transparent, equitable, and impartial election for the next generation of leadership to guide the party forward.”

So far, two people have declared their candidacy for the coveted role: Ken Martin, chair of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party; and former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, who also ran for president in 2016.

“We have to do two things at the same time,” O’Malley said in a podcast interview with Bloomberg on Friday. “We have to rebuild our party, and we have to reconnect with the working people across America who are experiencing a higher cost of living. … That’s always been the core of our party since [President Franklin D. Roosevelt]. … We became a little bit untethered from that at the national level.”