Democratic National Committee Chairman Ken Martin painted an optimistic picture of his party ahead of the midterms, despite the organization’s poor fundraising figures.
In an Saturday appearance on MS NOW, Martin already sounded triumphant, believing Democrats had Republicans on the back foot. As his foremost example, he pointed to the Democratic edge in the nationwide redistricting fight, where wins in California and Virginia helped give Democrats a net seat gain of +1.
“Every step of the way, we have outmaneuvered the Republicans, and now they recognize they are on the back end of Democrats actually winning everywhere in a year where we’re kicking their ass, and they keep playing these games,” Martin said. “Keep messing around and find out.”
Despite this confidence, he brushed off questions about the DNC’s refusal to release a much-hyped 2024 election post-mortem, saying the party was focused on the future rather than the past.
To release the 200+page report would result in party members “engaging in a back and forth and relitigating the 24′ election,” which “does not help us focus on the 26′ and 28′ election,” he argued.
“What I wanted to keep our focus on were those key top lines, the executive summary, the lessons… the 200-page report doesn’t keep people’s focus there. It allows people to engage in naval gazing,” Martin continued. “And you know, what I’m interested in is fixing the problems that we have in this party, and making sure at the end of the day, we’re prepared for this upcoming election.”
He predictably tore into President Donald Trump, warning that Democrats would have to be vigilant to ward off assaults on the electoral process.
Martin’s refusal to release the 2024 “what went wrong” memo is viewed by many big Democratic donors as a major stumbling block for trusting the party with their money after suffering such blistering losses that year.
DNC CASH CRUNCH PERSISTS DESPITE DEMOCRATIC MOMENTUM HEADING INTO 2026
“The DNC itself has lost trust with donors because of Kamala Harris’ disaster run,” Evan Barker, a former DNC fundraising volunteer who has since left the party, told the Washington Examiner. “It’s been demoralizing for them to lose to Trump again.”
The lagging of Democratic donations has put the party substantially behind the Republicans on the financial front, despite their polling advantage. The DNC raised $11.4 million altogether in March, and reported $13.9 million in cash on hand, while also being over $18.3 million in debt. The Republican National Committee brought in nearly double, raising $21.2 million in March and having $116.7 million cash on hand.
