Democrats reeling from Election Day will set the tone for Trump’s second term by electing a Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chair in February. As the party tries to stem its losses among non-white and non-college voters, fixing the DNC’s culture and structure must be at the top of the list of priorities.
First, we need to understand what the DNC is and what it does. The DNC does not control all party bodies. Instead, it is one of many party organizations at the federal level working to elect Democrats. It’s chosen as its primary job supporting and electing a Democratic president, although it could have a wider reach, too, as we suggest electing Democrats up and down the ballot. Parallel organizations elect representatives, senators, governors, and state legislatures. Far from being the most powerful of these organizations, the DNC typically plays second fiddle to the House and Senate committees.
We’re DNC members from California. Washington Monthly readers will recognize David as a longtime voice in these pages, advocating for bold but grounded progressive values and a hardnosed defense of democracy against conservative attacks. He has also held many positions in the California Democratic Party and is a two-term elected member of the DNC. Michael is serving his third term as an elected DNC Member from California, and he has more than two decades of experience in grassroots organizing and progressive activism, including political campaigns and leading policy/communications for Democratic elected officials. While we have both endorsed Ken Martin, the chair of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, we hope that future Democratic leaders will take these suggestions to heart regardless of the results of this DNC election
We are writing this piece because our experience in the DNC has often been frustrating, bordering on infuriating. In many ways, the opaque, consultant-driven internal organization failures at the DNC mirror the bubble mentality on Capitol Hill and the White House that brought us to last November’s electoral disaster. If American democracy is to survive, the DNC must be reformed and improved.
The DNC is top-heavy, lacks transparency (even to its members), relies on often-out-of-touch Beltway consultants, and endows its chair with too much power. The party is a tool of the president in years when Democrats control the White House and are at the mercy of whoever gets the job when, as is the case now, the party is out in the cold. The DNC chair appoints 75 of its 400-odd Members, ensuring it runs the table on any vote. DNC members are not given any insight into budget decisions, let alone any say. To prevent organizing between rare meetings, we are not even provided with other DNC members’ contact information. Many state parties don’t even issue public lists of their DNC members. Obsessed with “unity,” leadership has used staff to organize against members advocating for minor rule changes from the floor of the DNC’s occasional meetings. It has been forced to apologize for doing so from the dais.
What we know about DNC decision-making on budgets comes solely from press releases and finance reports rather than direct communication with our members. The expenditures show that, under DNC Chair Jaime Harrison’s leadership, the DNC invested significantly more in state parties than under past chairs, which is well-spent money. But more troubling is the White House directed most of the party’s financial commitments toward late-campaign paid media and old-school field organizing. These priorities have proven woefully inadequate against a conservative movement that funds social media influencers and earned media to alter the entire media landscape far more effectively than an October TV ad or November knock on the door could ever do. A flurry of late-game advertising and field work can’t compensate for a conservative media ecosystem that’s indoctrinating voters all the time. Harrison reports to the White House on all matters and, in too many ways, served as a conduit for White House orders—while his predecessor during the first Trump Administration, former Labor Secretary Tom Perez, held absolute power and reported to no one.
Obsessed with projecting unity, the DNC ignored warnings from local parties and grassroots activists throughout 2023 and 2024 about the looming electoral disaster; as rumors swirled around President Joe Biden’s fitness and concern spread about the need to replace him, the DNC violated its bylaws with a resolution at the February 2023 DNC meeting to endorse the sitting president before most of the primaries had even begun. Chair Harrison vocally argued on social media against entertaining the idea of another nominee, even as Biden’s poll numbers showed he would lose in a Walter Mondale-style landslide. When Biden finally abandoned his reelection bid, DNC-aligned consultants were responsible for pushing Vice President Kamala Harris into an overly disciplined and highly defensive rhetorical stance in the last weeks of her truncated campaign. This is widely seen as a mistake.
For better or for worse, the far more fractious and quarrelsome GOP committees—we’re thinking of the Republican National Committee (RNC) and various state parties—have nevertheless managed to make more effective (and less expensive!) media decisions, gain ground among minority communities, and better communicate authenticity to swing voters despite promiscuous lying and deeply unpopular policies.
On the money side, Democrats are obsessed with those who can fundraise—such as the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee looking for House candidates who can hustle money, to the exclusion of grassroots-supported candidates. Conversely, many DNC Members are themselves big donors (we’re not.) Likewise, leaders of the DNC are chosen based on who has the magic touch when it comes to soliciting donations.
We’re not naive. Money is important. But after three presidential elections in which Democrats massively outspent the GOP, only to lose twice and barely eke out a victory once, it may matter less how much is raised than how it is spent. The party’s fundraising techniques are themselves costly, especially with small donors. The constant “sky is falling” texts and emails that small-scale Democratic donors are inundated with every election cycle may have played a role in diminishing Democratic enthusiasm.
What we as DNC Members are seeking in a new Chair is someone who will, at a minimum:
Commit to funding progressive/liberal alternative media that can help drive truthful narratives year-round and combat far-right misinformation.
Be more comfortable with authentic messages and messengers that don’t neatly fit the day’s talking points. Avoid succumbing to banal gestures like policy or the ever-popular “let’s form a commission to study the problem.”
Support state parties. The DNC must deliver ongoing and grant-based funding to local parties and state organizers across all 57 states and territories and listen to those organizers when they signal dangers the party must address.
Empower DNC Members to organize for positive outcomes nationally and in their home states. DNC members should be able to communicate with one another.
Dilute the Chair’s power, significantly reducing its appointments so the DNC can be more agile and accountable.
Limit the power of the usual D.C.-based consultants to make funding and messaging decisions. This is one of many reasons the next DNC Chair should be full-time and live in DC.
Follow the party’s rules and bylaws, even under pressure from elected officials to do otherwise. The next DNC Chair should avoid conflicts of interest by not taking any outside sources of income.
Emphasize small-dollar donations and curb dark money.
Enact a primary calendar that will battle-test our nominees and better emphasize the voices of Hispanic and Asian Americans in swing states.
The DNC’s budget must be open to members, and topline decisions (such as the primary calendar, the quadrennial Convention site selection, the number of presidential primary debates, and their entry rules) must be discussed and ratified by the entire DNC. Members of the public should be able to quickly identify and contact their DNC Members and attend DNC meetings.
Win and hold elected Democrats accountable. The primary responsibility of the next DNC Chair is to win elections. Democrats must win the White House in 2028, but a Democratic Congress in 2026 will be essential to protect Americans from a second Trump Administration. And down-ballot races are necessary for rebuilding our bench of elected Democrats. Finally, Democratic officeholders must be held to the ideals and views set out in the 2024 National Party Platform. Unlike MAGA Republicans, who go along with the whims of an increasingly erratic octogenarian with fascist views, Democrats stand with and for the people. The next DNC Chair must be willing to stand up to a Democratic White House, Congressional leaders, and political consultants if they press the organization to place their interests ahead of the greater good.
Incoming DNC leaders must be open to reforms and help the organization adapt to modern campaign and media environments if Democrats want to regain their lost footing.
David Atkins and Michael Kapp are members of the Democratic National Committee from California.
