1:16FILE – DNC Chairman Ken Martin speaks during a news conference in Aurora, Ill., Aug 5, 2025.Erin Hooley/AP
The party faces a difficult stretch. Fund-raising and voter-registration numbers trail behind Republicans, and surveys show Americans view the party unfavorably overall.
Still, delegates arriving at this week’s Democratic National Committee summer gathering in Minneapolis are determined to rename the narrative, shrug off any appearance of drift, and sharpen the party’s agenda as they set their sights on upcoming gubernatorial contests and next year’s midterms.
At least six members who spoke with ABC News said they are ready to counterattack President Donald Trump more forcefully, adding that the party’s troubles stem from a stack of circumstances rather than from Chair Ken Martin—who took the gavel in early February.
Democratic strategists think one route back to firmer ground is to capitalize on the backlash to GOP-driven mid-decade redistricting plans while borrowing the sharp-elbowed style of California Gov. Gavin Newsom to answer Trump’s own rhetoric. Many also argue their message on health-care costs and the fallout from Trump’s spending packages can energize voters.
FILE – DNC Chairman Ken Martin speaks during a news conference in Aurora, Ill., Aug 5, 2025.Erin Hooley/AP
“We all acknowledge this climb is steep. We all recognize the roadblocks ahead, but Americans are clearly dissatisfied—you can read that in the data,” said Maria Cardona, a member from Washington, D.C., dismissing worries about a fractured party as “b——.”
“All this internal noise is just that—noise,” Cardona added.
This meeting marks Martin’s first large-scale forum since taking over—a real-time gauge of early confidence in his stewardship after a months-long baptism of bruises.
By late July the DNC reported roughly $14 million in the bank, a fraction of the Republican National Committee’s $84.3 million. July donations to the DNC were also slower than what the RNC pulled in.
The picture looks brighter for Democrats’ campaign committee devoted to House races. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee closed July with $40.4 million on hand, edging past the National Republican Congressional Committee’s $37.6 million and outpacing the GOP operation in monthly fund-raising as well.
Martin has endured added heat for flare-ups around Gen Z activist David Hogg, who quit as vice-chair after vowing to back primary challenges against sitting Democrats he deemed passive. American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten also surrendered her DNC post in June, writing that she is “out of step” with the new leadership; she had thrown her weight behind Ben Wikler, Martin’s main rival for the chair seat.
Asked by ABC News about Democratic enrollment shortfalls spotlighted last week in the New York Times, Martin conceded, “We have work ahead, no question,” and touted the committee’s new summer organizing push—a volunteer-training and voter-registration drive designed to equip canvassers to engage prospects in everyday settings and online in battleground states as an early proof point.
“We must return to registering voters—that mission is already under way through our summer field program and our state partners,” Martin said during a stop at the Minnesota State Fair.
Shasti Conrad, a DNC member from Washington state, said post-election grief has colored many recent conversations among her colleagues, though she senses a lift since Texas House Democrats blocked a quorum to slow GOP-passed congressional maps now sitting on Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk.
“After a defeat like last year, you hear the anger, the sorrow, the despair—these feelings have echoed in every discussion I’ve had,” Conrad said. “We’re trying to work through those.”
Conrad went on: “We’re finally finding our footing, and I’m hopeful this gathering ends with us walking out saying, ‘Okay, we’re steady now.’”
Conrad considers some of the hand-wringing over financing and registration “somewhat exaggerated” and believes the party has a sturdy base from which to grow.
That doesn’t mean internal worries have vanished—but members think that fear is finally forging common purpose.
“This is the bill coming due,” said progressive DNC member Michael Kapp of California. “We walked away from aggressive party-led registration for years, and it’s no shock that we’re bleeding support at the ballot box.” Kapp said he is “thrilled” Martin is committed to reversing the trend.
Kapp called it “a fresh dawn at the DNC” and voiced frustration that national figures like Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries aren’t moving faster. He added that many members are fired up to activate real resistance.
David Hogg speaks onstage during the Fast Company Innovation Festival 2024 at BMCC Tribeca PAC on September 17, 2024 in New York City.Eugene Gologursky/Getty Images for Fast Company
“I sense fury, a clear readiness to defend communities under assault by this administration, and frustration that we’re not moving even quicker—an impatience Chairman Martin shares, though he is grinding nonstop,” Kapp said.
“Plenty of members showed up nervous about our trajectory, but the push for a unified message has landed well,” said North Dakota’s Jamie Selzler, adding that while cash questions will keep surfacing, “resisting GOP overreach and taking Virginia and New Jersey this year would go a long way toward proving we’re back in the fight.”
Andre Treiber, a Texas DNC member and youth council chair, believes the committee is closing out its “reconstruction phase.”
“We’re pouring the last of the concrete,” Treiber said. “The party’s brand is bruised, and fixing it is at the heart of everyone’s focus this week.”
North Carolina’s John Verdejo says the next move should be brutally simple—cut through the noise by zeroing in on kitchen-table crises like costs of living—and end the pity party.
“We need a clearer line,” Verdejo insisted, pressing the party to spotlight pocketbook concerns without overcomplication.
Verdejo gets why some are nursing bruises but insists the clock for complaining is up as the party stands on a crucial pivot. Inside the movement, he says, there is a craving for scrappers—and Martin, despite an early rocky road, meets that test in the eyes of Verdejo and other members who spoke with ABC.
“We must think sharper, strategize smarter, get down in the mud when we have to. Tune out the polls, ignore the projections—voters want to see fire. Let’s bring it. The stakes are that high,” Verdejo concluded.
ABC’s Oren Oppenheim contributed to this report.
Sourse: abcnews.go.com
