The 2026 midterm elections delivered the Democratic Party its largest victory since the post-Watergate election of 1974, which the Democratic National Committee chair Ken Martin views as vindication of the 50-state organizing strategy he put in place after he was chosen in February 2025 to pull his party from the comprehensive defeat it faced in 2024. Throughout Martin’s tenure at the DNC, his focus on rebuilding party infrastructure in long-overlooked red states was widely admonished by the party’s D.C. insiders who have complained that his policy of sending $1 million a month to state parties left national Democratic campaign coffers badly trailing their Republican counterparts. They described Martin as thin-skinned, paranoid and insular in his leadership style, and called for his ouster.
In some of his first comments in the wake of the midterm wins, Martin told Newsweek that he feels the results proved the wisdom of his ways. None of the praise matters. None of the lack of praise matters,” Martin said.
And I don’t say that to brag,” he said, adding that he believes “passionately that the way you actually win elections is by pushing money and resources out to the states to make sure we are investing on the ground.” This interview has been lightly edited for clarity. Newsweek: This summer, people were calling for you to resign from your post. How does it feel to be leading the DNC in wake of this historic wind?
DNC Chair Ken Martin: I've always drowned out the critics. There're always critics in these roles, whether you're a state party chair, national chair. If you try to please everyone, you please no one.
And I've never took this job to try to please anyone. I had my North Star, which was winning. I've had my North Star, which is always how you win matters, how we actually build this party matters.
And, for me, of course, I feel great about the election results, but it was never about trying to please any of the critics or to silence the naysayers. It was always about doing this the right way so we could build power for working people and give people a chance and an opportunity in this country. You and I have talked about this before—It's very personal for me.
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