New York State senator launches bid for DNC chair

New York State Sen. James Skoufis (D) launched his run to chair the Democratic National Committee (DNC) on Saturday, in a bid to “rebuild” the party following widespread losses on Election Night earlier this month.

“In speaking with a lot of DNC members and the broader Democratic Party, we are looking for a fresh perspective,” Skoufis, 37, said in an interview with The Hill. “I think I bring a healthy mix of a track record of knowing how to win over the past 12 years but also being that younger, fresher perspective.”

Skoufis has served in the upper chamber of the New York State Legislature since 2023. Prior to being elected to the state Senate, her was an assemblyman in the lower chamber after being elected in 2012. He was the youngest member elected to the body at the age of 25.

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The bid for DNC chair marks Skoufis’s first foray into the national political arena.

“We have, many times over, had a DNC chair who’s been a DC beltway guy or who’s been a longtime party operative or comes from machine politics,” Skoufis said. “I don’t come from any of those places and I think that’s a good thing.”

The New York lawmaker joins former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) and Minnesota Democratic Party chair and Democratic National Committee vice chair Ken Martin in the race to replace current chair Jaime Harrison.

A number of names have been floated as potential contenders including U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel, Wisconsin Democratic Party Chair Ben Wikler and political strategist Chuck Rocha.

Skoufis’s bid comes after Democrats experienced losses across the board in the general election earlier this month. In addition to winning all seven swing states and becoming the first Republican presidential candidate to win the popular vote since 2004, President-elect Trump also made inroads in solidly blue states like New York.

Trump lost the Empire State to Vice President Harris by just over 11 points, a marked improvement from 2020 when he lost the state to President Biden by over 23 points.

Skoufis won reelection in the competitive 42nd state Senate district, located in the Hudson Valley. He noted that Trump has won his district, most recently by a 12 percent margin.

“If you look at my race this year compared to two years ago, some of my biggest gains were not in communities that I necessarily won outright,” he said. “But instead of losing red, rural terf by 40 points, I may have lost them by only 15 points this time.”

The state lawmaker said that in order to get back on track, Democrats need to “meet people where they are” and stop “speaking in overly academic terms.”

“Some of our candidates come off running for university chancellor instead of running for public office,” Skoufis told The Hill.

"If someone believes in a strong border as I do, they should not be labeled as racist by elements of our party. If someone voted for Donald Trump, we should not be condescendingly telling them that they voted against their own best interests,” he continued. “We need to stop telling people the economy is doing swimmingly well when they go to the grocery store and see front and center for the past number of years that it is absolutely not.”

“It’s not rocket science,” Skoufis added in the interview. “It’s being normal. It’s not speaking academic, weird terms. It’s meeting people where they are. It’s not sending people 700 texts asking people to chip in five dollars over the course of a three week span leading up to the election.”

The election for the new party chair and other leadership positions within the DNC is slated to be held on Feb.1, during the party’s winter meeting at National Harbour, Md.

Additionally, the party will host four forums, both in person and virtual, for the candidates to make their cases to the sitting committee members. The DNC’s Rules and Bylaws Committee is set to meet on Dec. 12 to come up with a process for selecting Democratic Party officers.

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