Dems pick new leadership. Who does Florida’s contingent like?

Ben Wikler in Orlando. Photo by Jacob Ogles.

Democrats, desperately seeking a new message and messengers to push back against the Trump administration, will elect a new leader Saturday in a low-profile Democratic National Committee election that could have big implications for the party’s future.

More than 400 DNC members from every state and U.S. territory have gathered in suburban Washington for the election, which features a slate of candidates dominated by party insiders. Outgoing Chair Jaime Harrison is not seeking reelection.

Most of the candidates acknowledge that the Democratic brand is badly damaged, but few are promising fundamental changes. Indeed, nearly three months after Donald Trump won the popular vote and gained ground among key Democratic constituencies, there is little agreement on what exactly went wrong.

Facing an emboldened Trump presidency, however, the leading candidates are talking tough.

“As we reel with shock at the horror that Trump is visiting on communities across this country, we need a DNC and a DNC chair who’s ready to bring the intensity, the focus and the fury to fight back,” said Ben Wikler, the Wisconsin Democratic chairman and a top candidate for DNC chair.

The leading candidates for DNC chair, Wisconsin’s Wikler and Minnesota’s Ken Martin, are low-profile state party chairs. They’re promising to refocus the Democratic message on working-class voters, strengthen Democratic infrastructure across the country and improve the party’s anti-Trump rapid response system.

They have promised not to shy away from the party’s dedication to diversity and minority groups, a pillar of the modern-day Democratic Party. But if Martin, 51, or Wikler, 43, is elected, as expected, either would be the first white man to lead the DNC since 2011.

Also in the race: Marianne Williamson, the activist and author; former Maryland governor and Biden administration official Martin O’Malley; and Faiz Shakir, who managed Bernie Sanders’ last presidential campaign.

Here’s how Florida Democrats will vote.

Chair Nikki Fried, State Senator Shevrin Jones, Judy Mount, Pamela Castellana, Alan Clendenin, Ric Gable, and Lydia Hudson back Martin.

Juan Cuba, Daniel Henry, Karla Hernàndez-Mats, Millie Herrera, Samuel Vilchez Santiago, Samantha Hope-Herring, and Allison Minnerly back Wikler.

Martin O’Malley is the choice of Sean Shaw, meanwhile.

The delegation is more united behind Parkland survivor David Hogg for Vice Chair, meanwhile.

___

Republished with permission of the Associated Press.