The 2025 Democratic National Committee chairmanship election was held on February 1, 2025, at the party's winter meeting in National Harbor, Maryland, to determine the next chairperson of the Democratic National Committee (DNC). Jaime Harrison did not seek a second term as chair of the party. Ken Martin won the election on the first ballot with 246.5 votes.
Background
Harrison was elected chair of the Democratic National Committee in January 2021, following the presidential election of Joe Biden in 2020. During his tenure, Harrison defended Biden from calls to suspend his 2024 re-election campaign amid the first 2024 presidential debate. Following the 2024 United States presidential election, in which Democratic vice president Kamala Harris was defeated by Republican former president Donald Trump, it was reported that Harrison would not seek re-election as chair of the Democratic National Committee in 2025. An all-staff meeting was held on November 6, 2024, to discuss the results of the election and a potential timeline for a leadership vote, which was initially scheduled to occur by March 1, 2025 at the latest, according to party bylaws.
Harrison officially announced that he would not seek re-election as DNC chair on November 25, 2024. The election to determine the next chair was held during the party's winter meeting on February 1, 2025, during which 448 DNC members voted on a chair; a simple majority of votes was required to win.
Timeline November 6, 2024 – Reuters reports that Jaime Harrison will not seek re-election as chair of the Democratic National Committee in 2025 following the party's defeat in the 2024 United States presidential election. December 12, 2024 – Meeting of the Democratic National Committee's Rules and Bylaws Committee voted on the chair election process. January 2025 – Four candidate forums featuring qualifying candidates were held. February 1, 2025 – Election was held by party voting members at the DNC's Winter Meeting, and Ken Martin was elected.
Candidates In order to qualify as a candidate for chair, prospective candidates had to submit a nominating statement signed by 40 DNC members by January 25, 2025.
Declared Quintessa Hathaway, educator and nominee for in 2022 Ken Martin, vice chair of the Democratic National Committee (2017–2025) and chair of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (2011–2025) Martin O'Malley, commissioner of the Social Security Administration (2023–2024), former governor of Maryland (2007–2015), and candidate for president in 2016 Jason Paul, executive member of the Newton, Massachusetts Democratic City Committee (2016–present) Faiz Shakir, campaign manager for Bernie Sanders's 2020 presidential campaign Ben Wikler, chair of the Wisconsin Democratic Party (2019–2025)
Disqualified Robert Houton, nonprofit executive and candidate in the 2024 United States Senate election in Maryland
Withdrawn James Skoufis, member of the New York State Senate (2019–present) and former member of the New York State Assembly (2013–2018) (endorsed Martin) Nate Snyder, former United States Department of Homeland Security official (endorsed Martin) Marianne Williamson, author and candidate for president in 2020 and 2024 (endorsed Martin)
Declined Stacey Abrams, former minority leader of the Georgia House of Representatives (2011–2017) from the 84th district (2007–2013) and 89th district (2013–2017) and candidate for governor of Georgia in 2018 and 2022 (endorsed Wikler) Andy Beshear, governor of Kentucky (2019–present) (endorsed Wikler) Michael Blake, former vice chair of the Democratic National Committee (2017–2021) (running for mayor of New York City and ran for DNC vice chair of civic engagement) Sherrod Brown, U.S. senator from Ohio (2007–2025) Laphonza Butler, U.S. senator from California (2023–2024) and former president of EMILY's List (2021–2023) Pete Buttigieg, U.S. Secretary of Transportation (2021–2025), former mayor of South Bend (2012–2020), and candidate for DNC chair in 2017 and president in 2020 Rahm Emanuel, U.S. Ambassador to Japan (2022–2025) and former mayor of Chicago (2011–2019) Marcia Fudge, former U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (2021–2024) and U.S. Representative from (2008–2021) (endorsed O'Malley) Mitch Landrieu, senior advisor to the president for Infrastructure Investment and Jobs (2021–2024) and former mayor of New Orleans (2010–2018) (endorsed O'Malley) Mallory McMorrow, majority whip of the Michigan Senate (2023–present) from the 8th district (2019–present) (endorsed Wikler) Phil Murphy, governor of New Jersey (2018–2026) Dean Phillips, former U.S. Representative from Minnesota's 3rd congressional district (2019–2025) and candidate for president in 2024 (endorsed Martin) Chuck Rocha, political strategist
Forums and debates The party hosted forums for candidates, who will need to submit the signatures of 40 DNC members to participate in forums. Each of the forums were livestreamed. All declared candidates qualified to attend the forums, however, Robert Houton was barred from attending any forums by outgoing DNC chair Jaime Harrison after making several positive statements about President Donald Trump and several contributions to Republican candidates. + Debates among candidates for the 2025 Democratic National Committee chairmanship election No. Date and time Place Host Link ParticipantsHathawayMartinO'MalleyPaulShakirSkoufisSnyderWiklerWilliamson1 December 7, 20244:45 p.m. ET Boston, MA Young Democrats of America YouTube 2 January 6, 20256:00 p.m. ET Virtual DNC Labor Council YouTube 3 January 11, 20254:00 p.m. ET Virtual Democratic National Committee YouTube 4 January 14, 20258:00 p.m. ET Virtual Brian Tyler CohenLeigh McGowan YouTube 5 January 16, 20257:30 p.m. ET Detroit, MI Democratic National CommitteePolitico YouTube 6 January 23, 20252:00 p.m. ET Virtual Democratic National Committee YouTube 7 January 24, 20256:00 p.m. ET Charleston, SC Democratic National CommitteeSouth Carolina Democratic Party YouTube 8 January 30, 20253:00 p.m. ET Washington, D.C. Democratic National CommitteeMSNBC YouTube
Endorsements
Results Of the 428 votes cast, Martin won 246.5 votes, Wikler won 134.5 votes, O'Malley won 44 votes, Shakir won two votes and Paul received one. Candidate Round 1 246.5 134.5 44 2 1 0 4 Total Candidate secured enough votes to win election Candidate secured a plurality of votes in the round Candidate withdrew
Structural reform proposals As in 2021, rank-and-file DNC members sought a series of reforms to make the DNC more democratic and transparent.
Publicizing delegate names and votes: The DNC has never officially published its delegate roster. Tom Perkins of The American Prospect called the roster a "black box" and published an independently compiled list of DNC members, drawn from candidates' whip operations and other public records. Other pro-reform DNC members support publishing how individual DNC members have voted on each DNC election and resolution.
Reducing the number and power of chair-appointed delegates: The sitting DNC chairperson can appoint up to 75 DNC delegates (about 16% of the maximum 448 voting delegates, or 19% of the typical ~400), while most of the rest are elected by primary voters (200) and state parties (114). Pro-reform DNC members pushed for the chair to appoint fewer delegates and to give appointed delegates less power. In particular, pro-reform DNC members wanted to reduce appointed delegate power on the three powerful standing committees (Credentials; Resolutions; and Rules and Bylaws), whose members had historically been mostly appointed by the sitting chair. Candidate Ken Martin supported this reform in his campaign. In June 2025, Martin reduced the number of appointed delegates on the standing committees, and increased their total number of seats, resulting in "24 out of roughly 135 seats" (about 18%) being appointed, roughly half of the historical rate.
On August 26, 2025, Martin brought eight rule amendments before the DNC's Rules and Bylaws Committee, all of which were approved. The amendments reduced the number of chair-appointed members from 75 to 60 seats; reallocated those 15 seats to the party's Asian American and Pacific Islander, Black, Hispanic, LGBTQ, and Native American caucuses; expanded the oversight authority of the budget committee; capped the number of chair-appointed members on major committees. Pro-reform DNC member David McDonald called the package a "major democratization of the Democratic National Committee", and pro-reform DNC member David Atkins called it a successful "small-d democratic regrowth".
Martin's reform package also requires DNC staff and officers to remain neutral in Democratic primary contests.
References
External links Quintessa Hathaway's campaign website Ken Martin's campaign website Martin O'Malley's campaign website Jason Paul's campaign website James Skoufis's campaign website Nate Snyder's campaign website Ben Wikler's campaign website Marianne Williamson's campaign website