2025 Democratic National Committee chairmanship election


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. 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 [Joe Biden 2024 Democratic Party presidential primaries|2024 presidential campaign|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 will be 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

Disqualified

Withdrawn

Declined

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.

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.
CandidateRound 1
246.5
134.5
44
2
1
0
4
Total