Democrats set to pick new chair as party grapples with Trump’s flurry of actions

Democrats will choose their next national party chair and leadership team Saturday, closing out a months-long debate over who is best suited to help the party rebrand and guide it through the next four years of the Trump administration.

Democrats will choose their next national party chair and leadership team Saturday, closing out a monthslong debate over who is best suited to help the party rebrand and guide it through the next four years of the Trump administration. Three candidates have emerged as top contenders to lead the Democratic National Committee: Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party chair Ken Martin, Wisconsin Democratic Party chair Ben Wikler and former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley. The election of new party leaders comes as Democrats have grappled with the most effective way to challenge the torrent of action spurred by the Trump White House, which just this week included the president blaming diversity initiatives for a deadly DC plane collision, a federal funding freeze that was rescinded in less than 48 hours amid widespread backlash, and confirmation hearings for three controversial Cabinet nominees. Those seeking the party’s top job signaled that, without a national leader, Democrats had not addressed what some called the “chaos” of the last several days with enough force. During their final candidate forum Friday, chair hopefuls were asked to raise their hands if they felt the Democratic Party had responded “sufficiently” to the first nearly two weeks of Trump’s second term. Most candidates – including Martin, Wikler and O’Malley – kept their hands down. “Right now, our party frankly feels listless. It feels like there’s nobody at the helm,” said David Hogg, a gun control activist running for a DNC at-large vice chair position. “We need leadership, we need a vision for the pathway forward, and that’s one of the most important parts about these elections.” In addition to choosing the next chair, DNC members will elect seven additional officers: a vice chair for civic engagement and voter participation; a treasurer; a secretary; a national finance chair; and three at-large vice chairs.