Southwestern Democrats throw support behind Ken Martin for DNC chair

Four state party chairs are backing Minnesota's Ken Martin in his bid to chair the Democratic National Committee (DNC), ABC News has learned.

The leaders of the southwestern Democratic parties in New Mexico and Oklahoma as well as the critical swing state of Arizona and the increasingly purple state of Texas endorsed Martin, chairman of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) Party, on Thursday morning.

"The American Southwest is one of the fastest growing parts of the country — and it's become a key political battleground every election year. Leaders in these critical states have put their faith in my ability to help our party win again. And I don't take that lightly. I'm grateful to have their support to run the next DNC and won't let them down," Martin said in a statement to ABC News.

The leaders all represent states where the national Democratic ticket led by Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz struggled to fully resonate with voters and, at times, underperformed Democratic House and Senate candidates.

Martin's track record of winning statewide elections is critical to the party's mission of establishing strong electoral majorities in southwestern states where Democrats have struggled, Arizona Democratic Party Chair Yolanda Bejarano said in a statement first provided to ABC News.

"Ken's commitment to breaking the transactional organizing model and replacing it with a year-round model built on permanent relationships will be especially important for restoring our strength with Latino and young voters that we need to win in Arizona and throughout the Southwest," she said, referencing two demographics that Harris and the Democrats underperformed with this year.

In Arizona, Harris lost even as the Democratic Senate candidate, Ruben Gallego, handily defeated Republican Kari Lake.

Similarly, in New Mexico, Democratic Senate candidate Martin Heinrich outperformed Harris by 3 points. And while she emerged victorious, Trump also made inroads there, securing nearly 46% of the vote in 2024 compared to just 40% in 2016.

In Texas, Democrats also saw losses even as they garnered increased momentum in recent elections. While Biden lost by only six points to Trump in 2020 and Beto O'Rourke came within striking distance of defeating Ted Cruz in 2018, Harris and Democratic Senate Candidate Colin Allred failed to narrow that margin. Allred lost by 9 points to Cruz, while Harris suffered a 14-point defeat to President-elect Donald Trump and again underperformed a statewide counterpart.

"Ken has an undefeated track record of winning statewide elections, and that's exactly the leadership we need to build lasting majorities in key states like Arizona," Bejarano continued.

The other Southwestern chairpeople echoed Bejarano, finding Martin to be a trusted coalition builder — an essential skill for a party that saw compromising levels of attrition across key demographic groups, which ultimately led to across-the-board losses, including in all seven battleground states.

"With Donald Trump looming over the Republican Party, we need someone who understands that our path to victory lies in every corner of this country—not just in major cities, but in rural communities, suburbs, and battlegrounds everywhere," Gilberto Hinojosa, Texas Democratic Party chair, said in a statement.

Hinojosa believes Martin's "vision, strategic brilliance, and commitment to grassroots organizing" make him best equipped to lead the party at this crossroads, furthering that Martin is " the key to leading us to a Democratic future we can all believe in."

Alicia Andrews, the chair of the Oklahoma Democrats, said Martin "has the vision, experience, and dedication to lead our Party to meaningful, lasting change."

Per Martin's campaign, he currently has the endorsement of over 100 DNC members. They have not released the names of those individuals as of yet.

Chairs need a simple majority of the DNC, at least 224 votes, to win. The leadership elections take place on Feb. 1 outside of Washington, D.C.

"Ken Martin is the leader the Democratic Party needs to build a stronger, more inclusive future," Andrews added.