Read the List of Ken Martin Replacements Circulating Among Dems

The DNC chair fights for his job after the autopsy debacle.

THE KNIVES ARE OUT for Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin after his much-delayed, painfully botched release of the 2024 campaign autopsy report.

But sharpening political cutlery is one thing. Turning it into an actual dagger is quite another.

Here’s a common refrain I’ve heard in conversations with party strategists over the past few days about whether or not the beleaguered Martin can continue serving in his post: No one else wants the job. The prevailing view is that the DNC is so riddled with debt and money problems—problems compounded by Martin’s leadership—that the responsibility of cleaning up the mess is simply too daunting.

And even if a clutch save were possible, there’s another factor giving people pause: whether the DNC is relevant anymore in this day and age.

But an effort to find and court a Martin replacement is very much underway. Just hours after the autopsy went public, DNC members and party operatives began listing possible successors to Martin. Some of them hoped that Howard Dean, who ran the DNC during the 2008 cycle, would be willing to come back, but Dean told me he had not been approached, and if asked, his answer would be “No.” Other operatives looked to convince former Montana Sen. Jon Tester—though he told Politico he wasn’t interested either.

I got my hands on another list of potential chairs that frustrated operatives and DNC members had put together. This one included