Nov. 19 (UPI) — Minnesota Democratic Party Chair Ken Martin said on Tuesday morning he will run to lead the Democratic National Committee as the party finds itself on the outside of national power looking in after losing the presidency and the Senate earlier this month.
In his announcement post, Martin said he believes he can bring together a coalition that could return Democrats to power.
“When I took over the [Minnesota Democratic Farm Labor Party], we were in debt and disarray,” Martin said in his message. “But we brought people together, built a winning coalition, and delivered results. I’m ready to do get to work to rebuild our party.”
He joins a potentially crowded field to replace current DNC chair Jaime Harrison, including former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, Wisconsin Democratic chair Ben Wikler, former New York Rep. Max Rose, former White House adviser, and New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu, and Japanese ambassador Rahm Emmanuel, according to Politico.
Martin also touted support from 83 members of the DNC with his announcement, nearly one-fifth of the organization.
The new leadership will take over after Trump won all seven swing states in the 2024 presidential election and closed the gap in some Democrat-leaning states.
Republicans will enter January controlling both the Senate and the House of Representatives as well.
Martin told NBC News last week that he wanted to strengthen state organizations “who are on the ground running these programs” as a way of regrowing the party from the inside out.