Democratic chair faces calls to quit over ‘shambles’ of election autopsy release

Ken Martin, the chair of the Democratic National Committee, is facing mounting calls to resign over his shambolic handling of an autopsy report on Kamala Harris’s defeat by Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election.

Martin suppressed the document for months before finally bowing to internal pressure and releasing it on Thursday. The slapdash nature of the autopsy, omitting Joe Biden’s decision to run for a second term and failing to mention the words “Gaza” or “Israel”, has only deepened a crisis of confidence in his leadership.

Democratic members of Congress have called for Martin to stand down. Seth Moulton of Massachusetts told the Axios news site: “He should resign,” because of “his lack of leadership”. Moulton added that it is “utterly nuts it took us this long to release the autopsy”.

Marc Veasey of Texas sounded an alarm before the midterm elections, telling Semafor: “There doesn’t seem to be a plan to turn things around and the clock is ticking. November is literally around the corner … I believe it’s time for him to move on.”

Mark Pocan of Wisconsin, appearing on the Thom Hartmann Program, said in response to a caller who argued that Martin should go: “I agree … Having what we have right now is not doing it.”

Other voices have joined the chorus. Tommy Vietor, a former spokesperson for Barack Obama, posted on X: “If he’d done this in the first place and not lied about why it hadn’t been released, things might be different. As it stands, this raises more questions about his judgment, candor and ability to lead the DNC.”

Emily Amick, a Democratic strategist and former counsel to Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer, said in a statement: “Ken Martin has lost the confidence of the party and voters across the country who have been moving away from the Democratic party cycle after cycle. I question how we can move forward with him at the helm of the presidential primary process without that trust.”

She added: “There was seemingly no oversight of this report, and Ken saw it last year and did nothing to remediate it. His handling of the report throughout this process was an embarrassment and a damning indictment of his ability to run the DNC.”

Both major parties have in the past commissioned autopsies following losses to explore what lessons should be learned, including interviewing party leaders, activists and donors and analysing spending and messaging.

Martin assigned the latest report to Paul Rivera, a Democratic consultant and friend he has known more than 20 years, on a part-time and unpaid basis.

Rivera found that Democrats ceded ground to Trump and Republicans through under-funding of state parties and a “persistent inability or unwillingness to listen to all voters”. It criticised Democrats’ focus on “identity politics” and warned that they can no longer assume that Latino voters, especially younger Latino men, are a reliable part of their base.

But the 192-page document includes a disclaimer at the top of each page stating that it “reflects the views of the author, not the DNC”, and notes appended throughout highlight inaccuracies as well as conclusions offered without evidence.

In a statement accompanying the botched release, Martin said it “does not meet my standards, and it won’t meet your standards” but was being published to restore trust in the party. He wrote he had withheld the report after last November’s Democratic victories in Virginia and New Jersey to avoid distraction but acknowledged the decision only created a larger one. “For that, I sincerely apologise,” he said.

The explanation cut little ice with Democratic campaign groups amid broader concerns about Martin, who has struggled to keep up with his Republican counterpart as a party fundraiser.

Norm Solomon, a co-founder of the online activist group RootsAction, said by phone on Friday: “It’s a shambles. Stunningly third rate. You wouldn’t even turn this in as an undergrad paper and expect to get a passing grade at a college with standards. Unfortunately, at every stage of the algorithm that unfolded, Martin took the wrong turn.”

He added: “I don’t think this is hindsight. It’s common sense if you want a project to encompass the scope of the problem and suggest sufficient solutions, you don’t give it to one guy who happens to be your friend and then let it sit when garbage is submitted. You deal with the fact that it needs a vast overhaul and you don’t accept the idea that the source material remains a mystery.”

Amanda Litman, who leads the Democratic-allied organisation Run for Something, posted: “Ken Martin is not up to the task of being DNC chair – the most important part of which is preparing to run the presidential primary process with trust & competency – and should resign.”

David Hogg, founder of Leaders We Deserve, a grassroots organisation focused on electing young progressives, said in a statement: “Ken Martin should resign, and the DNC should select a new leader who demonstrates competence, creativity, moral clarity, and a relentless commitment to actually changing the broken Democratic party brand.”

The Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC) carried out an overnight survey of 1,207 members and found that 95% want Martin to step down following the autopsy release. The PCCC said it will launch a campaign to drive public phone calls to Democratic state chairs urging them to call on Martin to resign.

Maria Langholz, the PCCC’s director of strategic campaigns, said: “The DNC autopsy fiasco is bigger than one bad report. It reflects a deeper distrust of the entire Democratic establishment that continually circles the wagons around weak leadership and out-of-touch ideas.

“The same political instincts that elevated Ken Martin also defended Joe Biden running for a second term, protected corporate Pac money at the DNC, and put fingers on the scale for uninspiring establishment candidates over the change candidates like Graham Platner and Abdul El-Sayed that voters are hungry for.”

Martin still has prominent supporters on Capitol Hill including former House speaker Nancy Pelosi and US representatives Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Jonathan Jackson of Illinois, Axios reported.

But speculation is already turning to potential successors. Last week, Litman told the Associated Press that she had been approached by senior strategists gauging her interest in replacing Martin but said no.

Other names might include Jane Kleeb, president of the Association of State Democratic Parties, and Ben Wikler, former chair of the Democratic party in Wisconsin, who lost to Martin in the DNC election last year and is about to publish a book, This Is the Plan: How to End America’s Meltdown and Save Democracy.

The Politico website reported that several strategists floated former Montana senator Jon Tester for his “fundraising ability and plain-spoken appeal with the middle of the country”, but when Politico called Tester, he replied: “Get the hell out of here. Are you on illegal substances?”