The president of the DNC, Ken Martin, faces leadership challenges in the midst of democratic struggles

The president of the National Democratic Committee (DNC), Ken Martin, stopped in a battlefield of the red state that has become Ohio this week, as part of his “state strategy” to help Democrats try to gain elections from one ocean to another.

“We cannot be a party that simply focuses on national power, because the elections are not won at DC, they are won in states like Ohio,” Martin told Cleveland during a forum on the future of the Democratic Party. “Ohio is a huge swing state in 2026.”

Martin, who was elected president of the DNC in early February, is on a mission to help the Democrats escape the political desert, after superb setbacks in the elections of last November, when the party lost control of the White House and the Senate and failed to win the majority of the room.

But while the Democrats are now under tension to resist the Balayage and Controversial Day of President Donald Trump in his second White House service, Martin’s mandate, to date, the National Party Committee has been something other than gentle navigation.

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The president of the newly elected Democratic National Committee, Ken Martin, speaks after winning the vote at the DNC winter meeting at the National Resort and Convention Center of National Harbor, Maryland on February 1, 2025. (AP Photo / Rod Lamkey, Jr.) (AP photo / Rod Lamkey, Jr.)

“There is a huge vacuum of leadership in the Democratic Party and Ken turns out to be a weak and ineffective leader who is not ready for any of this,” a former DNC official told Fox News, who asked anonymity to speak more freely.

The bitter intestines have hindered Martin – who was the long -standing president of the Minnesota Democrats when he won the elections of the DNC president – during his first four and a half months of work.

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David Hogg, the 25-year-old activist and survivor of the school shooting who was elected Vice-President of the DNC on the same day, Martin won the election of the president, put on a civil war within the party by committing to spending millions of dollars through his external political group to support the primary blows certain Democrats in the older Chamber in the Blue Districts “Sleeping”.

The vice-president of the National Democratic Committee, David Hogg, who was elected to his party post in February, left the DNC earlier this month after a confrontation with the DNC management. Reuters / Emily Elconin (Reuters / Emily Elconin)

The threat of HOGG to spend money on its democratic colleagues, which was unprecedented at the DNC, finally led to its exit from the National Committee of the Party this month.

The confrontation of the party with Hogg included the embarrassing audio of Martin – which was disclosed to the press – of the chair questioning its ability to direct the DNC.

“You have essentially destroyed any chance that I do not have to show the leadership I need,” said Martin about Hogg in the recording, which was reported for the first time by politico. “I don’t know if I want to do that.”

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A few days later – more bad news – while two main national labor leaders leave their roles at the DNC.

Randi Weingarten, president of the American teachers’ federation, and Lee Saunders, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, refused the offers to remain as members of the DNC in large part when they questioned the leadership of the party under Martin. The news has been reported for the first time by tIl New York Times.

Randi Weingarten, president of the American teachers’ federation, seen in Capitol Hill in Washington, on April 26, 2023, was one of the two best workers who recently left their roles with the DNC. (Reuters / Elizabeth Frantz)

Meanwhile, in the crucial fundraising battle with the Rival National Republican Committee, the DNC is late, according to the latest campaign figures.

The last deposits with the Federal Electoral Commission show the RNC with 67 million dollars in cash at the end of April, well in advance of the DNC dollars in their boxes.

Although intestine struggles in recent months can calm down, party fundraising could be a concern because Democrats aim to win back the room and possibly the Senate in the mid-term elections next year.

A member of the DNC committee, who also asked to remain anonymous, told Fox News that Martin’s mandate so far “was disappointing”.

Meanwhile, Maria Cardona, a long-standing democrat strategist and current member of the DNC committee, told Fox News that “DNC members are absolutely frustrated and sick of combat and wish everyone to put themselves on themselves and focus on President Martin and the party to defeat the Republicans instead of attacking.

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“We have no time for this bullshit. Our country and our democracy are faced with existential threats every day, and this is where 1000% of our fight must be,” said Cardona.

A former DNC official, who has obtained anonymity, recognized that “the Democratic Party is in a reconstruction phase.” Everyone knew it was going to be a difficult task. “

The president of the Minnesota Democratic Party, Ken Martin, speaks with Fox News on December 12, 2024 in Washington DC Martin was elected president of the DNC on Saturday, February 1, 2025. (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)

But the official added “that is also why the party massively elected Ken and trusted him to open the way. Instead of creating unnecessary distractions that make his work more difficult, Democrats should work together and focus on the only thing: winning.”

Cardona told Fox News that “everything Ken had done, whatever the drama he caused, was the right movements”.

She and other people in support of Martin have noted the success of the Democrats in recent months in the outdoor and special elections, as well as the increased investments of the DNC in public parties.

Another member of the committee, who obtained anonymity, underlined the traditional powerful role of a president of the national party when their party is out of power in the White House.

“Ken is the boss,” said the committee member at Fox News. “Ken reconstructs the house … He still has major renovations to make.”

But the committee member added that this role can often rush the feathers with other people within the party.

Weingarten and Saunders supported Martin’s competitor in the DNC’s presidency race, the president of the Wisconsin Democratic Party, Ben Wikler. As president, Martin then withdrawn Weingarten from the DNC rules and statutes, which is the group responsible for drafting the calendar and the electoral process for the presidential appointment of the Democratic Party.

The member of the DNC Committee told Fox News Digital that he was “not surprising” that union leaders had decided to leave the DNC “, since they both supported another candidate”.

Martin, in an interview this week with the New York Timessaid, “I know there are many people who wear grudges, who always argue the campaign that their person has not won.”

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And Martin, in a press release at Fox News, said that “some people in DC just wanted to win an argument, but I focus on the victory of the elections. This year, the Democrats have an unprecedented history of 32 victories and outperformances in the races across the country. This is what I was elected to do.”

The president stressed that “we have to cut the noise and focus on what works” and that “the Americans do not care about the chatter of Beltway, and me either – they want to know that the Democrats are fighting for them. Under my direction, that’s what the DNC does.”