Ben Wikler enters race for DNC chair as Democrats look to rebuild after Trump victory

Ben Wikler, chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, announced Sunday that he is entering the race to lead the national party.

Wikler is the fourth person to toss his name into the running for the next Democratic National Committee chair — a role that would oversee the party’s rebuilding as it continues to reel from President-elect Donald Trump’s win and Republicans clinching control of both chambers of Congress.

“I’m running for chair of the Democratic National Committee because we need to unite. We need to fight, and we need to win to stop the GOP from ripping this country apart and ripping off working people to enrich mega billionaires who funded (President-elect Donald) Trump’s campaign,” Wikler told CNN’s Manu Raju on “Inside Politics Sunday.”

“This is a time for Democrats to come together to learn about what we need to do and change, and to start winning elections up and down the ballot for the next four years,” Wikler said.

Wikler joins a competitive — and likely growing — field, including New York State Sen. James Skoufis, former Maryland Gov. and Social Security Administrator Martin O’Malley, and Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party Chair Ken Martin.

Democrats will vote on February 1 to select the party’s leader, who will also supervise the selection of the 2028 primary calendar, which was reshuffled before 2020 to play to the strengths of President Joe Biden.

Since Wikler’s election to lead the Wisconsin Democrats in 2019, the party has been able to boast several key victories for Democrats, including maintaining the governorship and holding onto a key Senate seat despite Vice President Kamala Harris’ 2024 defeat in the state. Though Trump flipped Wisconsin earlier this month, he won by 0.8% — the thinnest margin of any swing state.

More context: Democratic operatives involved in key races told CNN they don’t know how to figure out what those voters who went for Trump want, or how they’re doing in appealing to them.

In CNN’s conversations with two dozen top Democratic operatives and elected officials since Election Day, the fear isn’t just that no one knows the answer to what’s next — it’s that they don’t even know what the question is at this point.