DNC faces fresh turmoil as Ken Martin confronts calls to resign

DNC leaders try to move past autopsy debacle as Martin faces resign calls

A day after the Democratic National Committee released a botched autopsy report on the 2024 election, Democrats renewed pressure on Ken Martin, the party’s chair, to step down, according to reporting published May 22. Multiple elected officials and Democratic operatives argued that Martin mismanaged a report intended to examine the party’s failures and provide a roadmap for the future.

In recent comments cited by media outlets, Rep. Marc Veasey, D-Texas, said the party lacks a plan to turn things around and that the calendar is moving quickly toward November. “There doesn’t seem to be a plan to turn things around and the clock is ticking. November is literally around the corner,” Veasey told Semafor, adding, “I believe it’s time for him to move on.”

Other lawmakers were more direct. Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., told Axios that “He should resign.” Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Wisc., also said he agreed with a caller on a radio interview who argued Martin should be replaced.

Martin, for his part, continued to face questions about how and when the autopsy was released. The AP reported that Martin kept the document under wraps for months, fueling speculation about its contents, before releasing it this week and arguing it was too flawed to be useful. The autopsy had been intended as a comprehensive examination of the Democrats’ 2024 performance and an internal guide, but it became a fresh point of conflict within the party after the report’s release.

According to an account relayed to DNC staff during a conversation described as private, Martin apologized for his handling of the autopsy and said he was determined to continue leading the organization. “This was a major mistake. I own it, and now it’s time for us to move forward at the DNC, and I hope that you’ll move forward with me,” Martin said, according to a person with knowledge of the call who was not authorized to disclose the private conversation.

The renewed calls for Martin to resign also echoed earlier intra-party skepticism about the chair’s leadership. AP reported that Martin, previously a relatively unknown Minnesota operative until emerging last year as the head of the DNC’s formal political machine, had faced criticism over fundraising and what some in the party saw as an inability to inspire confidence among its “unruly membership.” Even so, the AP said it found no indication that a serious alternative leadership option was emerging quickly, reporting that it contacted a half dozen Democratic presidential prospects and all declined to weigh in.

At the same time, Martin has received support from some state party leaders, who criticized lawmakers and others they described as fueling election-year turmoil. Kansas Democratic Party Chair Jeanna RePass said the calls for the first-term chair to step down were not only unnecessary but harmful. “ridiculous and dangerous,” RePass said, describing the situation as dangerous for Democrats with elections about five and a half months away. “The American people are counting on us.”

Janet Kleeb, who leads Nebraska’s Democratic Party and the DNC’s association of state committees, also pushed back on the level of drama, saying the fighting was “nuts.” Kleeb said she had not heard a chair tell her they thought Martin needed to resign, and argued that removing a chair would require a process with a two-thirds vote. “These reports are such distraction,” she said.

The AP reported that the long-awaited postelection autopsy included findings that criticized Democrats’ approach during the 2024 presidential campaign, including a statement that Kamala Harris “wrote off rural America” and a conclusion that the party failed to attack Trump with sufficient “negative firepower,” among other findings. The AP also said Martin shared a 192-page version of the report only after intense internal pressure, despite having promised to release it earlier. Martin wrote on Substack that he did not want to create a distraction but apologized for “creating an even bigger distraction.”

The controversy has also extended to what the autopsy does not cover. AP reported that although the report criticizes Democrats’ focus on “identity politics,” it sidesteps several parts of the 2024 campaign that have generated particular internal anger and debate, including the decision by former President Joe Biden to seek reelection, the rushed selection of Harris after Biden dropped out, and the party’s division over the war in Gaza, as described in the AP story.

Kinnard reported from Columbia, South Carolina.