Ignore the Turmoil and Dysfunction at the DNC

A new face of the Democratic Party is beginning to emerge.

U.S. Sen.-elect Elissa Slotkin, D-Holly, speaks at the Michigan Democratic Party's election night watch party in Detroit on Nov. 5, 2024. | Andrew Roth/Michigan Advance

Despite the turmoil and dysfunction at the Democratic National Committee, a new face of the Democratic Party is beginning to emerge.

In the last six months, three moderate, next generation women have risen to the forefront. All have significant backgrounds in national security.

• Michigan Senator Elissa Slotkin gave a much-acclaimed Democratic response to the State of the Union.

• Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill won the Democratic nomination for New Jersey governor earlier this month.

• Former Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger has just secured the Democratic nomination for governor of Virginia.

Early polling shows both Sherrill and Spanberger running ahead. If that polling holds up, they are likely to be the big winners of 2025.

At the same time other new voices are emerging.

• Former Chicago Mayor and White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel has become, perhaps, the most articulate proponent of a new direction for the party.

• California Governor Gavin Newsom is becoming the face of opposition to President Trump — opposition that in the governor’s words makes sense not just noise. Contrary to common misperceptions, Newsom has a business background and has made community service the cornerstone of his administration.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore speaks at a stop on the "Driving Forward Blue Wall Bus Tour" at the MSU Union in East Lansing, Mich., on Oct. 17, 2024. | Andrew Roth/Michigan Advance

Toss in Maryland Governor Wes Moore, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer and a few others and we have a very different Democratic Party than the one voters rejected in 2024.

These more moderate, more practical elected officials, not the activists and apparatchiks at the DNC, will define the new Democratic Party. They will offer the country a new face for the Democratic Party in 2028.

That’s not without precedent. Nearly four decades ago after three straight Democratic debacles in presidential elections in the 1980s, I helped form the Democratic Leadership Council, an insurgent group of emerging leaders which worked outside the party apparatus to reshape our party.

Bill Clinton was the leader of that effort — and beginning with his election in 1992, the Democrats won the popular vote for President in seven of the next eight elections.

Al From is the founder of the Democratic Leadership Council and the author of The New Democrats and Return to Power. He does regular commentary in The Spy Newspapers and The Political Whisperers.