EXCLUSIVE: Ken Martin Open to Bringing on Big Name to Help at DNC
As the party chair’s woes mount, insiders are searching for someone who can do the parts of the job he can’t.
EMBATTLED DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE Chair Ken Martin is “open” to the idea of bringing on additional help from an experienced party leader to address the committee’s ongoing fundraising problems, according to a DNC official.
What role that person would play—let alone if it will happen before the midterms—remains unclear. But the willingness to entertain such a change comes as operatives in the party have begun broaching the idea of bringing on a co-chair at the committee to deal with fundraising as well as media appearances.
Martin has been beset by constant complaints over his struggles in these two areas—complaints that crested with a trio of stories over the weekend highlighting the DNC’s financial challenges and his increasingly erratic behavior.
Operatives across the party have come to believe that the best path forward is to bring on board someone who has credibility with donors and is capable of appearing on podcasts and cable news, which is itself a major fundraising function since top donors are particularly addicted to shows like MS NOW’s Morning Joe. Those in favor of bringing on a new hire in addition to Martin said it would take the pressure off him to fill the more public-facing responsibilities and allow him to focus on the day-to-day operations inside party headquarters. They noted that during the Clinton years, it was common to have DNC co-chairs with differing responsibilities. They see the need for a co-chair as acute right now, but downright paramount as the 2028 presidential primary season nears.
The best way to keep on top of breaking news inside the Democratic party: Join Bulwark+. We’ve got you covered.
But even as the DNC is now expressing some openness to fresh blood at the committee, there remain questions as to whether Martin—who would have to sign off on it—will ultimately get on board.
“There’s been talk of an intervention or of adding a co-chair—but all these ideas are ideas that Ken Martin will not agree to,” one DNC member told me. “His ego just won’t allow for that.”
Another party operative said that they actually encouraged Martin to bring on bigger party names to the DNC earlier this year in a role akin to a co-chair. But their suggestion then was ignored. “That whole operation is just in a bunker right now,” the strategist said.
That Martin may be softening on this is a testament to how rocky and untenable his tenure has become. Martin stepped into the role of DNC chair with the backing of many state party chairs but without a national profile or the national connections that are essential for fundraising. Rather than adjust, he’s adopted a go-it-alone approach, contributing to the DNC’s insularity and furthering the image that he is hampered by his own insecurity.
His troubles are well documented at this point, illustrated regularly when the DNC files its financial reports. But they’re amplified by the fact that he has done little to build alliances throughout the party. Multiple operatives said they were frustrated that the only time they’ve heard from Martin’s team has been when his staffers asked them to stop publicly criticizing him on cable and social media.
“After founding Moms Demand Action, helping to raise $11 million for Kamala Harris’s campaign, hosting fundraisers at my home, donating individually, and becoming a member of the DNC Finance Committee, I assumed he’d reach out—if for no other reason than to ask me for more money,” posted Shannon Watts, who founded the gun-safety group after the Sandy Hook tragedy in 2012.
“Nope, never heard from him,” she added in the post. “However, about six months into his tenure, he did have a DNC staff member call me to tell me he didn’t like something I’d tweeted.”
Another problem with changing up the DNC’s leadership is that even if Martin were to ultimately agree to a co-chair, it’s unclear who would want to be responsible for digging the DNC out of $2 million of debt while navigating low staff morale and a toxic workplace environment. Those challenges haven’t stopped frustrated operatives from wishcasting. Among the names tossed around in conversations these past few weeks are Donna Brazile, Pete Buttigieg, Terry McAuliffe, Howard Dean, and Jon Tester. But the name I’ve heard mentioned most frequently is Rahm Emanuel.
“We all know who it should be: It’s Rahm,” said a progressive Democratic strategist. “Even the progressives know that Rahm doesn’t fuck around and he raises a shit-ton of money and is very organized. It’s the perfect job for him. He has his enemies for sure, but even the people on the progressive side of the party want a functional, credible DNC.”
Emanuel is currently in the midst of exploring a presidential run and is extremely unlikely to drop that idea for a co-chair gig at the DNC. And the other people whose names have been floated are, for the most part, either enjoying retirement, don’t want to deal with the DNC’s problems, or also have their sights set on running for president.
Still, operatives I spoke with aren’t giving up hope that one of the longer-shot presidential contenders could be convinced to take on fixing the DNC.
“I think you can say: ‘Look, you fucking clean this place up. You do a badass job. You raise money. And then you position yourself and make it very clear that you’re in this because you want to serve in the next administration,’” said a veteran strategist, noting that Ron Brown was elected chair of the DNC in 1989 and then appointed secretary of commerce by President Bill Clinton after his 1992 election.
“That would require a risk, of course, and you do have to forgo the presidential campaign. But I also think there’s an opportunity to do something there.”
WHETHER OR NOT MARTIN brings on a big name—or even a co-chair—he is almost certainly staying put himself. Though senior lawmakers aren’t happy with the DNC’s dysfunction, they also don’t seem interested in forcing him out this close to the midterm elections. But that sentiment could quickly shift post-November, especially if the DNC’s fundraising hasn’t significantly improved.
In anticipation of that, party officials are still adding names to informal short lists of who could step into Martin’s role after the election. Some Democratic donors recently started floating Skye Perryman, the president and CEO of Democracy Forward, as a potential Martin replacement, noting that she was able to grow the nonprofit’s fundraising from $17 million in 2024 to $65 million in 2025.
The real gut-check on Martin’s future will come next month when DNC members travel to Austin, Texas, for their annual summer meeting. Aside from Martin resigning voluntarily, the only other way to force him out would be for a majority of the DNC’s roughly 450 members to vote in favor of removing him.
DNC members I spoke to said that since members are spread out across the country, much of the discussion about how to handle Martin’s chairmanship had been happening through various group chats and Signal chains. That made it hard to get a good read on whether anything nearing a majority of members favored ousting him. But they emphasized that Martin’s strongest critics would be working the crowd at the August meeting to get a sense of members’ willingness for action.
The conventional wisdom among DNC members has been that state party chairs, who are DNC members, have remained loyal to Martin because many of them have received an influx in funding under his leadership—and because Martin himself was once a state party chair. And given that state delegations typically follow the lead of their state chairs, there hasn’t been a real groundswell of support to vote him out. But some operatives are beginning to question whether state chairs will start to decide that the dysfunction and ongoing negative attention—all of which undermines the operations they’re trying to stand up on the local level—is no longer worth the promise of extra cash.
“More people are realizing that he can’t stay,” said another DNC member. “This will be the topic in Austin.”
My open tabs:
— The DNC Put Up Its Headquarters as Collateral to Obtain Its Massive Loan
— The Best Way for the WNBA to Solve Its Sophie Cunningham Problem Was to Ignore It
"someone who can do the parts of the job he can’t."
Ok, you got me. What are the parts he *can* do?
As a Dem and past DNC contributor, I haven’t donated to the DNC in years and don’t plan to until they get smart and learn how to fight. When they hired Martin instead of Wikler, it pretty much told me not to expect anything new or bold.