Two more Democrats on Sunday announced their intentions to run for Democratic National Committee chair.
Ben Wikler, chairman of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin since 2019, said in a video announcing his candidacy, “Today, the country we love needs the Democratic Party to be stronger. To unite. To fight. And to win.”
And in a letter to DNC members, Robert Houton, a onetime U.S. Senate candidate from Maryland, launched his bid, saying he wanted to “lead and grow our Democratic party to champion electoral and transformative, legacy victories in 2025, 2026, 2027, 2028, and beyond.”
They join a growing field with New York state Sen. James Skoufis, who announced his candidacy on Saturday, Martin O’Malley, the former Maryland governor who has served as commissioner of the Social Security Administration since December 2023, and Ken Martin, a vice chairman of the DNC who also leads the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party.
Ben Wikler, chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, waves to the crowd at a campaign event in Little Chute, Wis., Nov. 1, 2024.
Andy Manis/AP
Jaime Harrison, the current chairman, is not seeking a second term.
In an interview with CNN after announcing his candidacy, Wikler said he’s running to stop Republicans from “ripping this country apart and ripping off working people.”
Asked by CNN what he believes is the biggest problem Democrats currently face, Wikler suggested voters don’t believe that Democrats have their backs.
“The central problem is that voters, many voters, have internalized this idea that Democrats are not on their side,” he said. “They’re not fighting for working families every day. They have other agendas. That is the Republicans’ line of attack.”
Wikler and Martin are the front-runners. Elections are on Feb. 1 at the party’s annual winter meeting at National Harbor, Maryland.
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