Despite the party’s November losses, Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin is sticking with his current personnel strategy by filling up his senior leadership team through internal promotions. Committee insiders initially told POLITICO that Roger Lau, who has been the DNC’s deputy executive director since 2021, will be the organization’s next executive director. He takes Sam Cornale’s place. After Martin, a longtime party tactician and Minnesota state party chair, was elected on February 1 to lead the DNC, Lau, a seasoned campaign hand who oversaw Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s 2020 presidential campaign, was appointed. The DNC’s post-election preference for seasoned agents over upending the party apparatus on South Capitol Street is reflected in their choices. Libby Schneider, a former national rural political director, senior adviser, and DNC chief of staff, will take over as deputy executive director. Jessica Wright becomes the DNC’s chief of staff to the chair and deputy executive director. She is a graduate of the Obama administration and was the State Department’s deputy chief of staff for operations under President Joe Biden.
As associate chairs, the DNC’s Labor Council will be led by union boss Stuart Appelbaum, Washington State Democrats Chair Shasti Conrad, and Representative Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio). Following a race for DNC chair that was characterized by its homogeneity and criticized for it, they complete a diverse leadership team. In a statement, Martin said, “The Democratic National Committee is excited to unveil a new slate of leaders whose breadth and depth of experience will support the Democratic Party in holding the Trump administration accountable and fighting for working families.” “We are thrilled to have seasoned, combative operatives who are prepared to get their hands dirty and stand up for Democratic values across the board at such a crucial time.” While top officials and strategists are engaged in a heated debate over Democrats’ branding and how the party out of power should be navigating President Donald Trump’s second term, Martin is taking a non-disruptive approach to establishing the machinery that will steer the DNC through a challenging midterm election and into the next presidential cycle.
Republicans’ potential Medicaid cuts and Trump and Elon Musk’s mass firings of federal employees have become rallying points for Democrats who first found it difficult to agree on a unified opposing message. Even though the party has virtually no influence in either chamber, a number of Democrats, including some governors and ordinary lawmakers, are calling on congressional leaders to take even more resolute positions against the president and his billionaire ally’s efforts to dismantle federal agencies and override legislative-branch authority. Additionally, the DNC is still struggling there; a staffer just issued a mea culpa on X following a 32-point list of Democratic actions in February, referencing the emails Musk sent to federal employees. To try to move the party away from the more leftist message and ideological posturing that characterized its response to Trump’s first term, some of the party’s more moderate politicians and advisors are taking advantage of Democrats’ electoral thrashing.
Others are warning Democrats to wait until Trump himself intervenes. James Carville, a seasoned Democratic strategist, reportedly advised the party to “roll over and play dead” until public sentiment against the opposition soured. Martin and Lau, however, assert that they are pushing forward. “The work of the DNC is more important than ever when Democrats are in the opposition party,” Lau said in a statement, adding that the committee “will meet this moment by strengthening grassroots organizing, boosting messaging to win elections, and deepening our partnerships within the DNC and our state parties.”