Democrats debate future of party post-election meeting to choose chair

Joe Rogan. Kitchen table issues. A “permanent campaign.” A breakup with the consulting class. 

Democrats presented a long list of ideas for rebuilding their party on Thursday, Dec. 5, a month after their crushing loss to President-elect Donald Trump. 

They met in sunny Scottsdale, Arizona, a city in the heart of Maricopa County that Vice President Kamala Harris visited on the campaign trail and that Trump ultimately carried by nine percentage points last month. 

“Today, the majority of Americans believe that the Republican Party best represents the interests of the working class and the poor and the Democratic Party is the party of the wealthy and the elites. These are damning indictments on our party brand,” said Ken Martin, who is running to be the next Democratic National Committee chair. 

Martin, the chair of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, was one of four candidates running to chair the Democratic National Committee who appeared in Arizona for the winter meeting of the Association of State Democratic Committees. 

It was the perfect chance to address the people who will vote for the next party chair in February and diagnose what went wrong on Nov. 5. 

DNC chair candidates include O'Malley, Wikler

The party needs to change in order to win in the 2026 midterms and beyond, said Martin O’Malley, the former Maryland governor and a 2016 presidential candidate. Trump swept all seven battleground states and won the national popular vote.

“The good news is the change is really just a return to our true selves to be the party of working people all across America,” O’Malley said. His pitch for revamping the party includes focusing on “kitchen table” economic issues that affect Americans. 

Ben Wikler, chair of the Wisconsin Democratic Party, pitched a “permanent campaign” that runs year-round and uses state parties as the “hub” for Democratic activity. Harris lost in Wikler’s home state but Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., won reelection.

Wikler said he sees the country in a “moment of crisis” and Democrats need to look beyond fighting Trump.

The party should work “not just to stop Trump’s attacks but to build the kind of energy that allows us to win races that seem out of reach at this moment,” Wikler said.

New York state Sen. James Skoufis, the fourth candidate running for the DNC’s top spot, said he’d go on the popular podcast “The Joe Rogan Experience” to reach voters Democrats lost this year. 

"I won’t just be on MSNBC and speaking with The New York Times," Skoufis said. "You’ll see me on Fox News, too, and Joe Rogan’s podcast."

Trump appeared on Rogan’s popular show in the final weeks of the campaign. 

The race for party chair was just one topic of discussion when Democrats from across the country met up at the Hilton DoubleTree Resort in Scottsdale for the Association of State Democratic Committees’ winter meeting. The party also handled routine business such as voting to approve meeting minutes and a treasurer’s report. 

Throughout the day, attendees mingled under orange umbrellas on an outdoor patio and carried party-branded tote bags through the hotel lobby. Democrats jockeying for party chair hosted receptions and shook hands with party operatives they hoped to turn into allies. 

Several speakers, including O’Malley, spoke about ditching the consultant class in Washington, D.C., and said they blamed that group in part for the disconnect between Democrats and voters. 

Outgoing Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harrison grew teary-eyed at times when he addressed the gathering, describing the past month as an “emotional rollercoaster.” 

Attendees gave Harrison a standing ovation when he criticized “folks I did not see show up at all in 2024” who want to diagnose the party’s problems after Election Day.

He praised state party chairs in battleground states such as Arizona where Harris lost the presidential election but down-ballot Democrats won House and Senate races. 

Sen.-elect Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., is part of that group after defeating Republican Senate nominee Kari Lake last month. 

“We know how to win in the damn battleground states,” Harrison said.