Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin on Thursday released a long-awaited post-election report on the party’s 2024 losses, but immediately disavowed the document, calling it substandard and riddled with inaccuracies. The release, which came under intense pressure from party activists and some elected officials, has only deepened internal Democratic turmoil as the midterms loom.
Martin had initially promised to make the so-called autopsy public after Vice President Kamala Harris’s defeat to President Trump. But he reversed course last year, arguing the party needed to focus on upcoming elections. That decision sparked backlash, and Thursday’s release—while framed as a transparency move—was met with widespread criticism from within the party.
“When I received the report late last year, it wasn’t ready for primetime. Not even close,” Martin said in a statement accompanying the document. “I am not proud of this product; it does not meet my standards, and it won’t meet your standards. I don’t endorse what’s in this report, or what’s left out of it.”
The report, written by Democratic strategist Paul Rivera, a close friend of Martin’s, was released “in its entirety, unedited and unabridged,” according to the chair. But the copy is littered with red-ink annotations from the DNC pointing out errors. One note flags a claim that Democrats “netted two seats in the House” in 2024, saying the “data appears to be inaccurate and contradicts public reporting.” Other analyses show the party gained only one seat.
Another section describes Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin as states that “had consistently and reliably voted for Democratic candidates,” ignoring that all three voted for Trump in 2016 before flipping to Biden in 2020 and back to Trump in 2024. The report’s disclaimer, stamped across all 192 pages, states that it “reflects the views of the author, not the DNC” and that the committee “was not provided with the underlying sourcing, interviews, or supporting data.”
The autopsy offers a bleak assessment of Democratic performance, arguing the White House “did not position or prepare” Harris to take over the ticket after President Joe Biden’s exit. But observers quickly noted glaring omissions: Biden’s age, Harris’s choice of Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate, and Democratic divisions over the Israel-Hamas war—topics that dominated the 2024 campaign.
The report’s release has prompted calls for Martin to resign, with some party members arguing the botched post-mortem reflects broader leadership failures. Activist groups have demanded Martin step down, while others question how the DNC can move forward effectively. The internal revolt underscores the deep fissures within the party as it struggles to regroup for the midterms.
Martin acknowledged the report’s shortcomings but defended his decision to release it. “Transparency is paramount,” he said. Critics, however, argue that releasing a document the chair himself calls unreliable does more harm than good. For now, the DNC faces the challenge of rebuilding trust—both with its base and with its own leadership.
