Democratic National Committee (DNC) chairman Ken Martin acknowledged the obvious in his bid to win back working class support prior to the 2026 midterm elections: The Democratic Party’s brand has lost popularity with voters.
Martin, who won the DNC chairmanship on Feb. 1, admitted that Americans view the GOP as the party of the working class and see the Democratic Party as elitist, in a memo released Tuesday. The newly-elected DNC chairman is embarking on a cross-country tour, including to Republican-leaning areas, to shore up working class and labor support for a party viewed as out of touch with the average voter.
President Donald Trump made strides with working class voters and organized labor as part of his push to expand the Republican Party’s tent during his 2024 presidential campaign. Former Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign notably failed to connect with working-class Americans.
“I believe the canary in the coal mine for what happened on November 5 was the recent showing that, for the first time in modern history, Americans now see the Republicans as the party of the working class and Democrats as the party of the elites, Martin wrote in the memo outlining the party’s messaging to combat Trump. “It’s time to remind working Americans – and also show them every day – that the Democratic Party always has been and always will be the party of the worker.”
NEW: “Morning Joe” panelists give new DNC Chair Ken Martin chances to take popular stance on “cultural issues,” but he blows it
KATTY KAY: “Mr. Chairman, I don’t know if it’s that you don’t want to talk about the cultural issues that are in that poll, but 63% of Americans… pic.twitter.com/o7VVXxUdNz
— Jason Cohen
(@JasonJournoDC) February 17, 2025
Martin is scheduled to visit five states during his cross-country tour, which began Monday. The newly-elected DNC chair will travel to four states Harris lost — Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Missouri and Texas — and also visit reliably blue Illinois.
Martin’s multi-state trip comes after Democrats lost all seven swing states, the electoral vote and the popular vote for the first time in two decades in the presidential election, in addition to losing both chambers of Congress. The Democratic Party’s approval rating is also nearing historic lows, most recently losing ground with young people, the working class and minority voters.
Martin said he’s hitting the road to get the DNC out of its “comfort zone” and foster “tough, but honest conversations with voters,” in a statement to NBC News.
However, the newly-elected DNC chair appears to be taking a gamble that the party can regain support among working class voters by focusing on kitchen-table issues while sidestepping cultural issues that Democrats appear to be out of step with the American people on.
Americans believe that abortion, LGBT rights and climate change are the most important issues to the Democratic Party, according to a New York Times-Ipsos poll released on Jan. 2 that surveyed 2,128 Americans.
Former President Joe Biden championed these left-wing policy priorities during his administration, despite the Democratic Party’s stances on these issues not being widely shared by a majority of Americans nor a priority for the average voter.
In stark contrast, Americans’ top issues have been the economy, inflation, health care and immigration, according to the Times-Ipsos poll.
Martin repeatedly balked at weighing into cultural topics, such as transgender issues and illegal immigration, during an appearance on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” Monday.
“Mr. Chairman, I don’t know if it’s that you don’t want to talk about the cultural issues that are in that poll, but 63% of Americans think that it is right that the government policy should be to just have two sexes,” MSNBC contributor Kitty Kay told Martin. “Do you think U.S. government policy should be that there are just two sexes in the country?”
“It’s not up to me to decide what U.S. policy should be,” Martin answered. “But what I will tell you is that what people are focused on is their day-to-day lives — the kitchen table issues that impact their families … we need to focus on the narrative that connects all parts of our coalition — which is economics, right?”
Democrats have repeatedly attacked the Trump administration for failing to lower prices despite being in office for less than a month.
Martin’s acknowledgment that Democrats have lost the working class comes after a House Democrat-aligned super PAC announced a $50 million investment to win back working class voters on Feb. 3.
Martin’s attempts to win back this demographic comes after an election cycle during which the Trump-Vance ticket won nearly half of union households, according to CNN exit polling.
Trump notably won a majority of noncollege voters of all racial backgrounds and voters earning less than $50,000 per year in November. Harris conversely won a majority of college-educated voters and voters taking home more than $100,000 per year during the election.
The Trump administration appears to be working to solidify its support among the labor constituency by tapping former Republican Oregon Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer to lead the president’s Department of Labor. Chavez-DeRemer is notably opposed by some Republican lawmakers for her past pro-union advocacy and support among labor unions.
The DNC did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s inquiry about whether Martin plans to discuss the party’s positions on cultural issues as part of the chairman’s cross-country tour.
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