SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) - Four people are running to be the next Democratic National Committee chair, looking to take on the task of reinvigorating a party demoralized by a second loss to President-elect Donald Trump.
Others may still get into the race as the party reckons with the 2024 election, which saw Trump gain with nearly every demographic group in a decisive repudiation of the incumbent party. The committee's roughly 450 members will elect a successor for outgoing chairperson Jaime Harrison on Feb. 1.
The four declared candidates spoke to The Associated Press this week in Scottsdale, Arizona, where they were making their pitch in public and private at a meeting of state Democratic chairs. Here is a sampling of their responses.
"To me it´s an academic exercise. You can´t change the past. So for us, it´s really about what lessons can we draw right now that can inform the future." - Ken Martin
"I don´t know. You guys playing this D.C. parlor game on me, I´m not going to engage in that. Sorry." - Martin O'Malley
"Yes. A 107-day runway made for an exceptionally difficult set of circumstances... Vice President Harris would have been a stronger nominee with that longer runway." - James Skoufis
"My campaign slogan is 'unite, fight, win.' And to me, uniting means... building new capacities that allow us to win..." - Ben Wikler
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and other progressives argued before and after Election Day that Harris should have focused more on working-class voters and less on Republicans disaffected with Trump.
"Were there things we can learn from the election? Sure... We need to make sure we're reaching outside our comfort zone." - Ken Martin
"The only thing I know for sure... is there's pretty widespread belief Americans' primary concern was economic anxieties about the future." - Martin O'Malley
"I believe it was absolutely right spending time with Liz Cheney and other Republicans..." - James Skoufis
"Harris did better in suburban counties than Biden had in 2020... figuring out how to reach those folks is our next big challenge." - Ben Wikler
While Harris won Latino voters overall, Trump made major inroads with Hispanic voters according to AP VoteCast data.
"Every hot take right now is completely garbage... All has to be on the table to figure out what did we do wrong?" - Ken Martin
"I may sound like a broken record but it's economic issues: union jobs, living wages..."- Martin O'Malley
"We have to stop speaking in overly academic terms..."- James Skoufis
Most Latino voters...-Ben Wikler
The DNC at Biden's behest made South Carolina first primary state this year angering New Hampshire Democrats who went ahead anyway.