Longtime Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party Chair Ken Martin was elected chair of the Democratic National Committee Saturday in a commanding first ballot victory, vaulting him to the national stage while leaving a major hole to fill for local Democrats.

Ken Martin, the head of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, was decisively elected chair of the Democratic National Committee on Saturday, beating a crowded field in the first round of voting to become the new face of a party struggling to find its footing during the second Trump administration.

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) has a new leader: Ken Martin, chair of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) Party for more than a decade. Martin, 51 and a resident of Eagan, was elected DNR chair on the first ballot of voting Saturday, signaling "overwhelming support from DNC members," a news release says.