DNC to open summer meeting amid fundraising woes, socialist surge and calls for chair’s ouster
by Kerry Picket · The Washington TimesThe Democratic National Committee will hold its summer meeting in Austin, Texas, this week amid a campaign cash crunch, a leadership dispute and a socialist insurgency fracturing the party.
The meetings will take place from Thursday through Saturday, and a full DNC vote is expected on the proposed early-state calendar for the 2028 presidential nominating process.
Also on the schedule are meetings to discuss the work still required to win the November midterms and to protect voting rights. As party members grapple with those challenges, embattled DNC Chair Ken Martin has faced calls to step down.
The DNC’s proposed schedule for its 2028 presidential nominating calendar of the earliest primary states could determine whether any Democratic Socialist of America-aligned candidate or an establishment-endorsed candidate emerges as the frontrunner in the first six states.
If the 2028 calendar is approved, a DSA nominee would have to be successful in the earliest Democratic primaries, beginning in South Carolina on Jan. 22, Nevada on Feb. 1, New Hampshire on Feb. 8, New Mexico on Feb. 15, Michigan on Feb. 22, and Virginia on Feb. 29.
Recent DSA candidate congressional primary wins in New York, Colorado and Michigan coupled with last year’s DSA mayoral wins in New York City and Seattle have caused some longtime Democrats to bristle at the far-left DSA candidates who have pledged to take over the Democratic Party.
Democrats, though, are still grappling over how much their party should adopt DSA policy platforms onto the official DNC platform, specifically when it comes to where the U.S. should stand on its support of Israel and if Americans should embrace a socialist society.
According to a new Washington Post-Ipsos poll, three-quarters of Democrats are open to a democratic socialist president, but more than 50% of all Americans are not.
Advertisement Advertisement
Former DNC Chair Jaime Harrison said in a recent appearance on MS Now that while democratic socialist candidates are gaining traction in primaries, they have yet to win in crucial swing states in general elections.
“It’s one thing to win in a seat that’s already blue, but winning a state or winning in a district that you’ve got to flip [is more difficult],” he said. “You have to bring together a coalition of independents and progressives and moderates and all of the above. That’s a very different ball game.”
Abdul El-Sayed’s narrow U.S. Senate primary victory over Rep. Haley Stevens in swing-state Michigan has some Democrats nervous as he continues to campaign with the support of online streamer Hasan Piker, who has said the U.S. “deserved” to be attacked on 9/11 and that Israel’s historical and ongoing actions in Gaza are a “thousand times” worse than the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks.
This year’s meeting is taking place in the state where one of the crown jewel Senate races is happening, and the party is counting on its nominee James Talarico to set an example as a candidate who can embrace leftist policies on the campaign trail while running in a red state.
Democrats, though, are still playing catch-up when it comes to raising money, with Republicans beating them in the fundraising and ad spending wars with less than 100 days until the midterm elections.
Advertisement Advertisement
The DNC ended June with $16.3 million cash in hand, but also struggling with $18.5 million in debt. Their situation is a stark contrast to the Republican National Committee, which reported $128.5 million cash in hand and no debt.
The DNC had to put up its brick-and-mortar D.C. headquarters up for collateral last year to get a $15 million line of credit to help invest in the midterm election cycles, according to deed records.
The DNC has defended its move, saying through an official that the loan documents were released publicly last November and the DNC has taken the same steps in other years.
As for fundraising, Mr. Martin recently said the party’s cash-flow disadvantage won’t stop Democrats from winning.
Advertisement Advertisement
“The current DNC has raised the most money of any DNC without the White House in the 198-year history of the Democratic Party,” he wrote on Substack.
He said the DNC is “converting the cash we raise into electoral assets: more people, earlier organizing, better technology, and stronger state parties.”
However, Mr. Martin has taken the brunt of his party’s consternation, with calls for his resignation from a wide swath of Democratic lawmakers, operatives and activists going back to May, when a post-2024 election report was found to be riddled with errors and glaring omissions.
The dam broke on Capitol Hill after Rep. Marc Veasey, Texas Democrat, told Semafor that the election was too close to play around, and that “I believe it’s time for him to move on.” Reps. Seth Moulton of Massachusetts and Mark Pocan of Wisconsin agreed.
Advertisement Advertisement
Mr. Martin had his defenders, though, including Mr. Harrison and former interim DNC Chair Donna Brazile.
Ms. Brazile wrote in a Washington Post op-ed, “Martin’s departure now would create an unnecessary problem for the Democratic Party. We would need to quickly agree on a new Democratic National Committee chair, who would then have little time to get up to speed to help Democratic candidates win critical state offices and control of both houses of Congress.”
The Washington Times reached out to the DNC and DSA for comment.
• Seth McLaughlin contributed to this report.
Advertisement Advertisement
Contact the author
Kerry Picket
Follow author updates Follow Click to follow. Manage followed authors