The first major campaign Ken Martin ever ran was a losing one.
In 2006, the Eden Prairie native and lifelong DFLer helped manage Minnesota Attorney General Mike Hatch’s gubernatorial bid against Gov. Tim Pawlenty.
Hatch lost that election to Pawlenty by just more than 20,000 votes. It ended up being the last time a Republican has won statewide office in Minnesota.
Martin, who was asked in 2010 by then governor-elect Mark Dayton to run for chair of the Minnesota DFL Party, has never seen a Democrat lose a statewide election while he’s been at the helm.
Now Martin, the longest-serving chair in the DFL Party’s history, is cashing in his chips in hopes he can elevate his resume to the national stage.
On Tuesday morning, Martin, 51, announced he is officially running for chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC). His announcement and launch of his DNC Chair campaign website, comes just eight years after another Democratic power player in Minnesota, then Congressman Keith Ellison, made a run at the position. When Ellison ran, and ultimately came up short, in his campaign for DNC chair, the DFLer was a known entity in Washington D.C. at the time. But in his promotional video Tuesday, Martin emphasized his D.C. “outsider” status.
“Here’s the thing, if you’re looking for a creature of DC, that’s not me,” Martin said in a heavily produced 140 second video address launching his bid to lead the Democrats nationwide. “But I do know how the DNC works and how it isn’t working.”
“I know how to listen to the voters, to those who feel cast aside by the Democrats and the people who are working hard within our party and its great ideas.”
DFL successes during Martin’s tenure aided by mega donor
Martin then touted, that under his leadership, the Minnesota DFL Party helped turn out 22 winning statewide campaigns in a row for Democrats. He also mentioned how the organization climbed its way out of debt following the 2010 election cycle and has been heavily funded to help its candidates for Congress, constitutional office, state legislature and even for school boards over the last 14 years.
But while Martin has been praised for his leadership during his tenure, many of the DFL Party’s successes across seven election cycles also coincided with the financial backing of a DFL mega donor: Alida Rockefeller Messinger. In 2010, Messinger, the former wife of Mark Dayton and an heiress to the Rockefeller oil family, created Minnesota-focused political action committee, Alliance for a Better Minnesota. Since then, Messinger has pumped millions into the DFL-allied organization each election cycle, along with more than $10 million it raised during the 2022 election cycle that saw the DFL capture its trifecta at the State Capitol.
Martin didn’t mention that in 2020 and 2024 Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump came within 2 points and 4 points, respectively, of winning Minnesota, a state most national pundits have considered blue state in presidential election cycles. He also refrained from mentioning that two Republican candidates for attorney general and state auditor in 2022 came within less than one percentage point of defeating DFL incumbents.
Martin did admit that the Upper Midwest “Blue Wall” states that Democrats had held onto to help it win the White House and control of Congress in 2020 had crumbled earlier this month. Both Michigan and Wisconsin went for Trump.
“And we [Minnesota] are the last of the ‘Blue Wall’ states still standing,” Martin said. “And with that we’ve passed investments that improved the lives of people, paid leave and affordable housing and childcare; middle class tax relief, reproductive rights and so much more.”
While the DFL trifecta, that Martin has praised for its work, increased state spending by 38 percent in just one legislative session, it has been broken up by key GOP victories in Greater Minnesota. The DFL’s top operative believes its policy successes are key to helping Democrats nationwide “reconnect our ideas, which we know are popular in red, blue and purple states across this country, back to our party and to our candidates.”
As he concluded his pitch, Martin was vague in his reference to the presidential campaign of Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, or that the tandem lost the electoral college and popular vote earlier this month to Trump and his Republican vice-presidential running mate J.D. Vance.
But he did mention Trump by name.
“Politics is not a sport,” Martin said. “We can’t just pat ourselves on the back and then head home to lick our wounds for the next four years. Because when the Trump agenda fails Americans, as it most certainly will, they need to know that we have their backs.”
Democrats begin to line up behind Martin
While a handful of notable Democratic National Committee players have already said they are backing Martin, he’ll have at least one opponent – former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, who announced his candidacy for DNC chair on Monday.
The Hill is reporting Barack Obama inner circle member and former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emmanuel is considering a run. And several outlets are reporting that Wisconsin’s Democratic Party Chair Ben Wikler is being encouraged to throw his hat in the ring. Whomever DNC members elect will replace Jaime Harrison, who was elected DNC chair when Biden took over the White House in 2021.
Among Minnesota’s Democratic power players, Martin has already received endorsement from Ellison and DNC Committeeman Ron Harris. Another early praise for Martin’s candidacy came from Mike Nellis, who was the chief organizer of the “White Dudes For Harris” arm of the Harris/Walz campaign.
“Not making an endorsement, but Ken Martin is a very strong candidate for DNC Chair,” said Nellis, whose job this fall was to help market Tim Walz to white male voters. “I’ve met him a few times—he’s a serious person who knows how to win and how to fight for working people. I’m glad he’s running.”
Hank Long
Hank Long is a journalism and communications professional whose writing career includes coverage of the Minnesota legislature, city and county governments and the commercial real estate industry. Hank received his undergraduate degree at the University of Minnesota, where he studied journalism, and his law degree at the University of St. Thomas. The Minnesota native lives in the Twin Cities with his wife and four children. His dream is to be around when the Vikings win the Super Bowl.
