Wisconsin party chair joins crowded race to chair Democratic National Committee

Wisconsin Democratic Party Chair Ben Wikler launched his bid for chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) on Sunday, joining a growing field of candidates seeking to lead the party forward after widespread losses on Election Day last month. 

Wikler made the announcement on CNN’s “Inside Politics.” 

“I’m running for chair of the Democratic National Committee because we need to unite, we need to fight, and we need to win to stop the GOP from ripping this country apart and ripping off working people to enrich megabillionaires who funded Trump’s campaign,” Wikler told anchor Manu Raju. 

“This is a time for Democrats to come together to learn about what we need to do and change and to start winning elections up and down the ballot for the next four years,” he continued. 

When asked by Raju why DNC members should vote for Wikler after Vice President Harris lost Wisconsin last month, Wikler pointed to the state’s status as a purple state. 

“The thing about the last four years is that we’ve seen a Republican Party that in Wisconsin came in and tried to dismantle our democracy, robbed working people, smashed unions, attacked public schools, restricted voting rights, and Democrats organized, united and fought back,” he said. 

“And over these last four years, we’ve won election after election,” he continued, citing Sen. Tammy Baldwin’s (D) reelection and Democratic state Legislature wins, along with President Biden’s win in the state in 2020, Gov. Tony Evers (D) winning election in 2022, and Democrats flipping the state’s Supreme Court majority. 

Trump flipped Wisconsin back last month, winning the state by less than a point. Biden’s 2020 win was by a similarly narrow margin. 

Wikler is the fourth Democrat to jump into the race to replace Jaime Harrison as DNC chair. On Saturday, New York State Sen. James Skoufis (D) launched his bid, joining former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) and Minnesota Democratic Party Chair Ken Martin. 

U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel and Democratic strategist Chuck Rocha have also been floated for the position. 

The election for the new party chair and other leadership positions within the DNC is slated to be held Feb. 1, during the party’s winter meeting at National Harbor, Md.

Additionally, the party will host four forums, both in person and virtual, for the candidates to make their cases to the sitting committee members. The DNC’s Rules and Bylaws Committee is set to meet Dec. 12 to come up with a process for selecting Democratic Party officers.