Donna Brazile is a member of the Democratic National Committee, for which she has twice served as interim chair.
As Americans suffer through an affordability crisis caused by President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans, too many Democrats are wasting time and energy feuding over whether party Chair Ken Martin should keep his job.
He should.
With the midterm elections only about three months away, 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.
Being DNC chair isn’t easy. I know because I’ve held the job twice on an interim basis, served as an at-large member of the DNC since 1997, managed Vice President Al Gore’s presidential campaign in 2000 and worked on Democratic campaigns since I was a teenager.
The chair needs to raise millions of dollars and decide how much of it to spend on House and Senate races, state parties and preparations for the 2028 presidential primary season. There is always a shortage of donors and a surplus of folks asking for cash and other help.
In addition, the chair must help build the infrastructure to support campaigns, work with state parties on presidential primaries and organize a convention to nominate a presidential candidate.
Ken Martin is navigating a difficult fundraising climate as he works to support the DNC; many generous presidential-year donors are less willing to invest during non-presidential years. While the DNC’s debt exceeded its cash on hand by about $2.2 million at the end of June, the Republican National Committee had $128.5 million on hand and no debt.
Nonetheless, Martin has accomplished a great deal at the DNC. In his July 20 Substack post, he noted that the committee raised more than $207 million in the 18 months through June — more than it has ever before raised in a comparable period when Republicans controlled the White House.
The DNC is short of cash because it has spent most of the money it has raised on year-round staffing, organizing, improved technologies and aid to every state and territorial party, Martin wrote.
The strategy paid off with many Democratic victories in the 2025 elections, including enabling Democrats to capture governorships in New Jersey and Virginia, and to win in special elections this year.
Martin shows no signs of quitting. There is no move underway by my fellow DNC members to force him out. So let’s move on.
Instead of focusing on ousting Martin, we need donors big and small to come to the aid of the Democratic Party for the sake of our country. This will require prominent Democrats to volunteer their time to help Martin accelerate fundraising and boost support for our midterm candidates by calling major donors and speaking at fundraisers, rallies and other events.
Martin’s future is not something most Americans worry or even care about. I’d wager that most don’t even know who he is.
But millions of Americans do worry a great deal about paying the skyrocketing cost of fueling their cars, feeding their families and buying essentials. They worry about paying for housing, health care, day care for their young children and college for their older ones. They worry about losing their jobs and homes.
Between now and Election Day, Democrats backed by the DNC will need to explain to voters how the affordability crisis will worsen if Republicans keep control of the House and Senate and continue to do nothing to stop Trump from pursuing his harmful policies.
Trump falsely claims the affordability crisis was caused by the policies of his predecessor, Democratic President Joe Biden. In fact, the crisis has primarily been caused by Trump’s war of choice against Iran, which has dramatically reduced exports of oil and natural gas from the Middle East, and by his broad tariffs that function like a national sales tax.
Americans want to see the president address their concerns, rather than be preoccupied with seeking vengeance against his perceived enemies, trying to rig elections, deporting hundreds of thousands of law-abiding immigrants who hold vital jobs, censoring how history is presented at museums and national parks, treating the presidency like an ATM, and ending diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
They are unhappy that Trump has cut taxes for the rich and government services for millions of other Americans and that he is wasting millions of their tax dollars on vanity projects, including a massive White House ballroom, a 250-foot-tall triumphal arch and the botched resurfacing of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.
Democrats can win control of both houses of Congress in the midterms by rallying around what unites them. By advocating for pragmatic policies that most Americans support to make our country more affordable, rather than extremist socialist policies that most voters oppose. By promising to stop Trump from making life even less affordable.
All this is far more important than the internal politics of the DNC. Instead of focusing on Ken Martin’s future, Democrats need to focus on convincing the American people that our candidates are best.
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