Ken Martin (born July 17, 1973) is an American political figure from Minnesota. He is Chairman of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) Party,[1] President of the Association of State Democratic Committees, and a Vice Chair of the Democratic National Committee.[2]
Ken Martin | |
|---|---|
.jpg) | |
| Chair of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party | |
| Assumed office February 5, 2011 | |
| Preceded by | Brian Melendez |
| Vice Chair of the Democratic National Committee | |
| Assumed office April 19, 2017 | |
| Chair | Tom Perez Jaime Harrison |
| Preceded by | Grace Meng |
| Personal details | |
| Born | July 17, 1973 Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Jennifer O'Rourke |
| Children | 2 |
| Education | University of Kansas (BA) |
Early life and education
editMartin was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota on July 17, 1973. He attended Eden Prairie High School and graduated from the University of Kansas in 1996 with Bachelor of Arts degrees in Political Science and History. [2] Martin's deep involvement in student government and campus life led to Chancellor Robert Hemenway presenting him with the Donald K. Alderson Memorial Award, which recognizes a graduating senior whose campus involvement as a student benefits fellow students and the greater good.
Career
editMartin started his political work in 1990 as an intern for Minnesota U.S. Senator Paul Wellstone's campaign and later interned in his official office. In 1992, Martin organized college campuses throughout the South for the Clinton/Gore Campaign. After college, he worked in Kansas politics helping with the Kansas Democratic Coordinated Campaign as Field Director for the Kansas Democratic Party.
In 1998, Martin moved back to his home state of Minnesota and served as the Political & Field Director for the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) Party. He served as the Deputy Minnesota State Director for the Gore campaign in 2000 and in 2002 was the campaign manager for Secretary of State candidate Buck Humphrey. In 2004, Martin helped manage John Kerry's Presidential campaign in Minnesota.[3]
From 2001 to 2005, Martin served as the Policy Aide for Ramsey County Commissioner Susan Haigh. In 2005, he served as the Executive Assistant to Minnesota Attorney General Mike Hatch and then went on to help run his campaign for Governor in 2006.[4]
Working with the North Central States Regional Council of Carpenters, Martin led an effort on behalf of the Building Trades to pass prevailing wage ordinances with local governments throughout Minnesota.
In 2008, Martin led the campaign that passed the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment (Legacy Amendment) to the Minnesota Constitution.[5]
Martin later served as the Executive Director of WIN Minnesota, a Minnesota-based donor collaborative that helped develop, fund and direct independent expenditures during the 2010 election cycle. After the election, Governor Mark Dayton tapped Martin to direct Dayton's successful recount effort,[6] ushering in Minnesota's first Democratic Governor in 24 years.
Following the successful 2010 campaign, Governor Mark Dayton asked Martin to serve as the Chairman of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party where he was elected unanimously in February 2011. In 2017, Martin was elected by his peers throughout the nation as the President of the Association of State Democratic Committees and became a Vice Chair of the Democratic National Committee.
Minnesota DFL Party Chair
edit
Martin is currently serving his 6th term as chairman of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL), the Minnesota branch of the Democratic Party. He has held this post since 2011—making him the longest-serving chairman in the 75-year history of the DFL.[7]
When Martin was elected DFL Party Chair in 2011, he inherited a state party deeply in debt [8] following significant election losses including losing the majority in the State Senate for the first time in 40 years, the majority in the House of Representatives, and one of the longest held Democratic seats in Congress in MN-08 with the defeat of Congressman Jim Oberstar.
The DFL won in the 2012 Minnesota election, gaining back majorities in both the state House and state Senate. In this election, Minnesota became the first state to defeat a Constitutional Amendment to ban same-sex marriage and[9] stopped a Voter ID Amendment. Plus, Congressman Rick Nolan gained the MN-08 Congressional seat.
The 2014 cycle brought additional success as the Minnesota DFL reelected, by large margins, two office holders in Governor Mark Dayton and U.S. Senator Al Franken who each won their first elections by less than 1% of the vote.[10]
During the 2016 elections, Minnesota was one of only two Midwestern states to vote for the Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. In addition, despite losses of rural congressional seats throughout the country, the Minnesota DFL won all three of its rural congressional races by reelecting Congressman Tim Walz (MN-01), Congressman Collin Peterson (MN-07), and Congressman Rick Nolan (MN-08). [11]
In 2018, the Minnesota DFL elected Tim Walz as Governor, marking the first time the DFL has had three consecutive terms in the Governor's office. In addition, the DFL won every constitutional office, won back the majority in the State House of Representatives, flipped two congressional seats from red-to-blue, one of those seats being represented by the Republicans by over forty years, and elected two women to the U.S. Senate, Senator Amy Klobuchar and Senator Tina Smith, becoming only the fifth state in the nation to be represented by two women in the U.S. Senate simultaneously. [12]
After coming within 1.5% of winning Minnesota in 2016, Donald Trump's campaign heavily invested in winning Minnesota in 2020.[13][14] These investments included millions in advertising and over 60 campaign staffers.[15] With the DFL's influence, the Democratic nominee Joe Biden won with 52.40% of the vote to Trump's 45.28%.[16] The DFL Party, under Martin's leadership, also succeeded in re-electing Senator Tina Smith, holding the State House of Representatives, holding the two congressional seats the party flipped from red to blue in 2018, and flipping three Republican-held State Senate seats.[17]
Martin was re-elected to his sixth term as Chairman of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party on February 6, 2021.[18] In their coverage of his re-election, the Star Tribune noted that "Martin's party is coming off a string of statewide election wins, and more than $130 million raised compared to the state Republican Party's $45 million during his 10-year tenure." The Star Tribune also noted that, as of Martin's re-election, "the Minnesota DFL Party has $2.5 million in the bank compared to $55,000 on the GOP side".
DNC Vice Chair
editIn 2017, Martin was elected by his peers throughout the country as the President of the Association of State Democratic Chairs (ASDC),[19] and by that election became a Vice Chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC).[20] On January 21, 2021, Martin was unanimously re-elected President of the ASDC.[21] Upon his re-election, Martin pledged to continue "our important work of strengthening Democratic infrastructure across America."[21]
2025 Democratic National Committee Chair race
editAfter Kamala Harris's loss to Donald Trump in the 2024 United States presidential election, Martin announced his intention to seek chairman role of the Democratic National Committee. He has been described in some press as the "front-runner" in the DNC Chair race.[22]
Personal life
editMartin lives in Eagan, Minnesota with his wife Jennifer O’Rourke and two sons.[23] He is active in youth sports in Eagan where he has served on the Eagan Athletic Association Board of Directors and as the President of the Eagan Basketball Association.
References
edit- ^ "Ken Martin". Minnesota DFL. Retrieved 2024-11-30.
- ^ a b "Chairman". The Minnesota DFL. Archived from the original on 2019-07-31. Retrieved 2019-07-31.
- ^ "John Kerry-Minnesota Campaign Organization". p2004.org.
- ^ "Ken Martin elected new DFL chairman". February 5, 2011.
- ^ "Minnesota's Legacy Amendment: Whose legacy is it?". MinnPost. February 5, 2014.
- ^ "Dayton's raised more than $1 million for recount". Star Tribune.
- ^ "DFL re-elects Ken Martin to 6th term as party chairman". KTOE News. Retrieved 2022-10-19.
- ^ "Minnesota DFL and Republican parties report more debt than cash". Star Tribune. Retrieved 2019-07-31.
- ^ "Minnesota voters reject marriage amendment | MPR News". www.mprnews.org. 7 November 2012. Retrieved 2019-07-31.
- ^ "MN Election Results". electionresults.sos.state.mn.us. Retrieved 2019-08-02.
- ^ "Minnesota Secretary Of State - 2016 General Election Results". www.sos.state.mn.us. Retrieved 2019-08-02.
- ^ "Minnesota Secretary Of State - 2018 General Election Results". www.sos.state.mn.us. Archived from the original on 2020-04-10. Retrieved 2019-08-02.
- ^ "The 10 Closest States in the 2016 Election". U.S. News. November 14, 2016.
- ^ "Why Donald Trump Thinks He Can Flip Minnesota". Time. Retrieved 2021-04-14.
- ^ "Trump Campaign Says It's Putting More Money Into Minnesota". Bloomberg.com. 2020-10-24. Retrieved 2021-04-14.
- ^ "Minnesota Secretary Of State - 2020 General Election Results". www.sos.state.mn.us. Retrieved 2021-04-14.
- ^ "Home - Election Results". electionresults.sos.state.mn.us. Retrieved 2021-04-14.
- ^ "Ken Martin, unopposed for Minnesota DFL chair, still sees headwinds". Star Tribune. Retrieved 2021-04-14.
- ^ "ASDC". 10.31.15.92. Retrieved 2019-08-02.
- ^ "DNC Announces New Officer Roles and Responsibilities Including Ken Martin of Minnesota as Vice Chair". 2020 Presidential Campaign Blog. Retrieved 2019-08-02.
- ^ a b "DFL chair reelected to lead Association of State Democratic Committees". KSTP. 2021-01-21. Retrieved 2021-04-14.
- ^ "Ken Martin emerges as early front-runner in race to lead Democrats as DNC chair". POLITICO. 2024-12-01. Retrieved 2024-12-01.
- ^ "Veteran political operative Ken Martin will seek state DFL post". St. Paul Pioneer Press. 13 December 2010. Archived from the original on January 7, 2022. Retrieved January 7, 2022.