Ken Martin hunkers down at the Democratic National Committee as a storm gathers around party leader

NEW YORK -- NEW YORK (AP) — Ken Martin is in survival mode.

Desperate to save his job as chair of the Democratic National Committee, he is avoiding media appearances, monitoring his critics' social media posts and refusing — at least so far — to make any substantive changes at his troubled organization.

A half dozen state leaders and other committee members, most of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal conversations, described Martin as defensive and extremely distrustful of others, even some people on his own team, as calls for his resignation grow louder among Democratic operatives who lament his leadership decisions, lackluster fundraising and even his tendency to lash out in anger.

But there is no sign that the organization's membership plans to replace Martin before the midterm elections in November, even as some wonder how much longer he can hold on. The drama threatens to undermine the party's momentum in the battle to retake control of Congress from President Donald Trump's Republican Party.

“I sense no movement from the DNC to make a change, and so that decision’s up to Ken. And he’s told me he’s in it, so I trust him on making that decision," said Colorado Democratic Party Chair Shad Murib, a DNC member and strong Martin supporter. “What we’re seeing right now is a whole group of folks who live on Twitter and consultants fighting harder against Ken Martin than they’ve ever fought against Donald Trump.”

Martin did not grant an interview request. In a recent Substack post, Martin defended himself this way: “If the question is whether the Democratic Party will be ready to win — everywhere, at every level, in this election and for the decade ahead — the answer is a resounding yes.”

Martin's critics are everywhere all at once and some want him out

As one of its most important responsibilities, the DNC is tasked with building out the party's national infrastructure, including fundraising, to support the Democrats' next presidential nominee. Yet few members of the next class of White House prospects are willing to speak out on Martin’s behalf.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, who has traveled to key states in recent weeks before a potential presidential bid, praised the DNC for embracing a new primary calendar that promotes more diverse states such as South Carolina and Nevada.

But Moore declined three separate times to answer directly when asked whether he has confidence in Martin heading into 2028.

“My confidence is in the people,” Moore told The Associated Press. “My confidence is in making sure that we have a system in place that actually allows the people’s voices to be heard."

He said he is not looking for "wins on behalf of a political structure or party bosses.”

Others have been explicitly critical of Martin.

Shannon Watts, the former leader of Moms Demand Action and a member of the DNC’s finance committee in 2024, criticized Martin’s lack of communication with donors and key stakeholders. She said she was ready and willing to help Martin after he took over last year, but he never called.

She did, however, get a call from a DNC staffer urging her to delete a social media post that was critical of Martin. Such calls have become common occurrences in recent months.

“Ken needs to step aside. I think Ken knows he needs to step aside," Watts said. “There’s a reason he’s worried he’s going to be fired and it’s because he’s not up to the job.”

Even those close to Martin, including senior members of the DNC leadership, privately complain that Martin is not doing more to maintain ties with committee members, donors and prominent outside officials. He was known for building strong relationships in his previous post as leader of the Association of State Democratic Chairs, which is largely why he was elected national chair.

His allies are baffled as to why he has not done the same in his new job. There are also lingering frustrations over how Martin handled the follow-up report on the 2024 election. He promised to release the document, then withheld it, then eventually made it public while saying it was too flawed to be helpful.

Dems look to a possible change but there's no clear alternative right now

Few expect Martin to be replaced before the fall elections, largely because no clear alternative has emerged as the midterms loom. But members are looking toward the DNC's winter meeting after the November contests — and before the 2028 presidential primary process begins in earnest — as the most likely time to make a leadership change.

Former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley has fielded calls to discuss a candidacy to replace Martin, according to a person with knowledge of the conversations who requested anonymity to discuss private discussions. O'Malley, who did not respond to a request for comment, finished a distant third in the DNC chair election last winter.

The growing chorus of criticism has shaken the confidence of Martin's loyalists.

They were especially concerned about an essay this week by Rufus Gifford, the finance chairman for President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign, who warned that the DNC under Martin’s leadership was “spiraling toward irrelevance."

“At this point, I think there is no saving Martin’s chairmanship. He is a good man with good intentions but simply not meeting this critical moment,” Gifford wrote on Substack. “As Democrats, the only solution is to acknowledge the problem and fix it. Now.”

One Martin ally likened the fallout from Gifford's statement to the day after Biden's disastrous debate performance that effectively forced him to abandon his reelection campaign.

Martin has stayed on the road but remained quiet

Martin got a lifeline this week from New York Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, the House Democratic leader, who said while campaigning in Pennsylvania that Martin “has my full support.”

Jeffries noted that Democrats have won the overwhelming majority of elections since Martin took over the DNC, which also coincides with Trump's return to the White House. Jeffries also played down the party's financial challenges.

Federal filings show that the DNC reported about $16.3 million in the bank with more than $18 million in debt at the end of June, compared with the Republican National Committee reporting more than $128 million in cash and no debt.

The DNC under Martin used the party’s Washington headquarters as collateral to secure a $15 million line of credit last fall. His critics seized on the decision as an example of financial mismanagement, although the building was used as collateral under former party chairs as well.

DNC officials note that the committee has actually raised more money under Martin than it raised in 2018, the last time the party did not have the White House in a midterm year.

“The current DNC has raised the most money of any DNC without the White House in the 198-year history of the Democratic Party," Martin wrote recently on Substack.

While Martin has avoided national media appearances, which are considered a major responsibility for the chair, he has been traveling almost constantly to support party officials and key stakeholders across the country.

He visited six states over the past two weeks alone. This past week, for example, he met with civil rights leaders in Nashville, Tennessee, and mayors from across the country in Atlanta.

Kansas Democratic Party Chair Jeanna Repass said Martin should be praised for his commitment to strengthening state parties at a critical moment. Indeed, instead of hoarding the DNC's cash, Martin is distributing it aggressively to needy state parties, just as he promised while campaigning for the chairmanship.

“This is a ridiculous conversation to be having right now,” Repass said. “If people don’t like Ken, they can have a conversation with him in two years. But right now, we all need to be behind the chair and keep our heads down and do our jobs.”

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Associated Press writers Steven Sloan in Oklahoma City, Mike Catalini in Bethlehem, Pa., and Matt Brown in Washington contributed to this report.