Longtime Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party Chair Ken Martin has been elected chair of the Democratic National Committee in a commanding first ballot victory, vaulting him to the national stage while leaving a major hole to fill for local Democrats.

The Democrats have a new face in charge. Ken Martin was elected chair of the Democratic National Committee on Feb. 1. After years as a Minnesota mainstay and leader of the state's major Democratic wing, Martin will head a party in flux after a 2024 defeat as it works to drum up a unified strategy to combat President Donald Trump's agenda.

For two months as he campaigned for Democratic National Committee chair, Ken Martin worked methodically through a call sheet of the committee’s 448 members, sometimes on the phone for as long as an hour,