UPDATED | Charleston will be in the glare of national politics Jan. 24 when it hosts a forum among candidates who want to be the next chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC).
“This forum is a unique opportunity for Southern DNC members to bring their voices, particularly those of Black and rural voters, into this critical DNC chair election process,” said S.C. Democratic Party Chair Christale Spain on Friday.
The forum, which is being offered by the state party in collaboration with the DNC Southern caucus and a Southern vice president for the Association of State Democratic Committees, is about a week before the Feb. 1 election of new officers for the national party.
Final details of the 6 p.m. Jan. 24 Charleston forum, including the venue and a post-forum reception, will be announced next week.
Why here?
Why would the eyes of national Democrats turn toward South Carolina where Republicans control both chambers of the Statehouse, hold all nine state constitutional offices and voted broadly for GOP President-elect Donald Trump?
It’s likely because of two South Carolina native sons – the current chair of the DNC, Orangeburg native Jaime Harrison, and senior Congressman Jim Clyburn, who is widely credited with saving President Joe Biden’s 2020 national campaign.
It also doesn’t hurt that the Palmetto State held the party’s first-in-the-nation presidential primary in 2024.
“South Carolina is the perfect market for testing Democratic presidential campaigns,” freshman S.C. Sen. Ed Sutton, D-Charleston, told the Charleston City Paper. “Our primary base is diverse, media buys are affordable, our food is unbeatable and most importantly, our track record of picking winners speaks for itself.
“South Carolina Democrats are proven and ready to lead the national primary season.”
While details of the Jan. 24 event are expected to emerge today, the forum will allow candidates to outline their visions for the future of a Democratic Party deeply wounded in November when Vice President Kamala Harris fell to Trump, whose election was certified by Congress on Jan. 6. That date was the fourth anniversary of mob violence at the Capitol by his supporters, whom Trump has pledged to pardon
Frontrunners in the race to replace Harrison include Ken Martin, 51, of Minnesota, and Ben Wikler, 43, of Wisconsin. Six others have enough support – 40 signatures each from the DNC’s 448 committee members – to qualify for the ballot for the vote, which is expected Feb. 1.
Martin has led the Minnesota state Democratic Party since 2011. He’s known as a veteran behind-the-scenes operator who has been the DNC vice chair since 2017 and reportedly entered the race with 83 endorsements.
“We’ve got to do a better job of making sure people know that wherever they live, wherever they are from, no matter who they are, we’re fighting for them and we’re their champion in this country,” Martin told The New York Times in November.
Wikler, who has chaired the Wisconsin Democratic Party since 2019, has the backing of U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer, the New York Democrat who ran the U.S. Senate until earlier this month. He is now minority leader.
Wikler, who got into politics as a research assistant for comedian and former U.S. Sen. Al Franken, said in December he was running on a platform of uniting, fighting and winning.
“Uniting starts not with recriminations but with reckoning and with curiosity and data,” he said in a December interview. “And then you use all that to inform the way that you fight the next battle.”
Others in the race to be DNC chair include former presidential candidate and past Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, New York state Sen. James Skoufis, former U.S. Homeland Security Department official Nate Snyder, author and former presidential candidate Marianne Williamson, former Arkansas congressional candidate Quintessa Hathaway and Massachusetts lawyer Jason Paul.
Check back for updates.
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