The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is the principal executive leadership board of the United States's Democratic Party. According to the party charter, it has "general responsibility for the affairs of the Democratic Party between National Conventions", and particularly coordinates strategy to support Democratic Party candidates throughout the country for local, state, and national office, as well as works to establish a "party brand" and to formulate the party platform. While it provides support for party candidates, it does not have direct authority over elected officials.

The DNC was established on May 26, 1848, at that year's Democratic National Convention.Party History. Retrieved February 17, 2007. The DNC's main counterpart is the Republican National Committee.

Role The DNC is responsible for articulating and promoting the Democratic platform and coordinating party organizational activity. In particular, it organizes and calls for the Democratic National Convention held every four years to nominate candidates for President and Vice President of the United States, and is subsequently responsible for the presidential campaign. The DNC is more focused on campaign and organizational strategy than public policy. According to Boris Heersink, "political scientists have traditionally described the parties' national committees as inconsequential but impartial service providers."Boris Heersink, "Trump and the party-in-organization: Presidential control of national party organizations." Journal of Politics 80.4 (2018): 1474-1482.Cornelius P. Cotter and Bernard C. Hennessy, eds. Politics without Power: The National Party Committees (2009) excerpt

In presidential elections, it supervises the national convention and, both independently and in coordination with the presidential candidate, raises funds, commissions polls, and coordinates campaign strategy. Following the selection of a party nominee, the public funding laws permit the national party to coordinate certain expenditures with the nominee, but additional funds are spent on general, party-building activities. There are state committees in every state, as well as local committees in most cities, wards, and towns (and, in most states, counties).

When the president is a Democrat, the party generally works closely with the president and the White House largely controls the committee.

Membership and organization The DNC is headed by a chairperson, five vice chairpersons, a treasurer, a secretary, and a national finance chair, who are all elected by vote of members of the Democratic National Committee itself.

According to its charter, the committee is further composed of:

two representatives (including the chairperson) of each state committee or US territory 200 additional members apportioned to the states according to their population size (minimum two per state), elected either on the ballot by primary voters or by the state committee or caucus two additional members per US territory, selected by their Democratic parties the Democratic leaders in the US Senate and House of Representatives three Democratic governors (including the chairperson of the Democratic Governors Association), mayors (including the chairperson of the Democratic Mayors Association), county officials (including the chairperson of the National Democratic County Officials), state legislators (including the chairperson of the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee), and municipal officials (including the chairperson of the Democratic Municipal Officials), respectively three representatives (including the presidents) of the Young Democrats of America and the National Federation of Democratic Women, respectively two representatives (including the chairpersons) of the College Democrats, the Democratic State Treasurers Association, the Democratic Lieutenant Governors Association, the Democratic Association of Secretaries of State, the Democratic Attorneys General Association, the National Democratic Ethnic Coordinating Committee, the National Democratic Seniors Coordinating Council, and the High School Democrats of America, respectively eight representatives of the Democrats Abroad (including the chairperson), who each have half a vote up to 75 additional members elected by the committee.

All DNC members are superdelegates to the Democratic National Convention, and their role can affect the outcome over a close primary race only if no candidate receives a majority of pledged delegates. These delegates, officially described as "unpledged party leader and elected official delegates," fall into three categories based on other positions they hold: elected members of the Democratic National Committee, sitting Democratic governors and members of Congress, and distinguished party leaders, consisting of current and former presidents, vice presidents, congressional leaders, and DNC chairs, are all superdelegates for life. The DNC establishes rules for the caucuses and primaries which choose delegates to the Democratic National Convention, but the caucuses and primaries themselves are most often run not by the DNC but instead by each individual state. Primary elections, in particular, are conducted by state governments according to their own laws. Political parties can choose whether to participate and accept the results of a state's primary election.

An internal organization, the Association of State Democratic Chairs (ASDC), convenes the state and territorial party chairs and vice chairs. The president of the ASDC serves concurrently as a vice chair of the DNC. Jane Kleeb, chair of the Nebraska Democratic Party since 2016, was elected in 2025 as president of the ASDC, succeeding Ken Martin who had served as president since 2017. The ASDC is assisted by the Association of State Democratic Executive Directors (ASDED), headed by Brad Martin (executive director of the Democratic Party of Oregon) since 2017.

The DNC convenes at least once a year. An Executive Committee of roughly 65 members determined by the DNC is responsible for the affairs of the party and meets at least quarterly. Former Chair of the High School Democrats of America Zayed Kadir was the youngest individual in history to serve on the committee. In addition, a National Advisory Board exists for purposes of fundraising and advising the executive. The present chair is Elizabeth Frawley Bagley, U.S. Ambassador to Brazil.

Current leadership Ken Martin, former chair of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party, was elected chair in the 2025 chairmanship election on February 1, 2025.

ImageNamePositionNotes Ken Martin Chair Reyna Walters-Morgan Vice Chair, Civic Engagement and Voter Participation Artie Blanco Vice ChairShasti ConradMalcolm Kenyatta Jane Kleeb ex officio (ASDC President) Chris Korge Finance Chair Virginia McGregor Treasurer Jason Rae Secretary

Furthermore, the following non-voting officers execute administrative tasks within the DNC: Executive Director: Roger Lau, former campaign manager for Elizabeth Warren for President Political Director: Alana Mounce, former executive director of the Nevada State Democratic Party Chief of Staff: Anatole Jenkins, former national organizing director for Kamala Harris For The People

List of DNC leaders Chairs

Deputy chairs This is an inactive position.

The deputy chair of the Democratic National Committee was re-established by Tom Perez in February 2017 after his win in the 2017 DNC Chair race.

After a close victory over Minnesota Congressman Keith Ellison, Perez appointed Ellison as deputy chair in an attempt to lessen the divide in the Democratic Party after the contentious 2016 Democratic presidential primaries, which saw conflicts between supporters of Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders. Perez was seen as being more in line with the Clinton wing, while Ellison was more in line with the Sanders wing. The role's revival in 2017 has been described by critics as largely titular and ceremonial.

On November 8, 2018, Ellison resigned from the position due to his win in the Minnesota Attorney General election. The position remains unoccupied. OfficeholderTermStateEvan Dobelle1980–1981MassachusettsAlexis Herman1989–1992AlabamaBen Johnson2003–2005MarylandMike Honda2003–2005CaliforniaSusan Turnbull2003–2005MarylandKeith Ellison2017–2018Minnesota

Treasurers

+ List of Democratic National Committee treasurersOfficeholderTermState1875–1892New York1892–1896New York1896–1897New York1897–1900District of Columbia1900–1904Illinois1904–1906New York1906–19081908Indiana1908Oklahoma1908–1912New York1912–1916Missouri1916–1924Iowa1924–1932New York1932–1934New York1934–1936Illinois1936–1937New Hampshire1937–1941District of Columbia1941–1942North Carolina1942–1945California1945–1947California1948–1949North Carolina (acting)1949–1950Washington1950–1951Missouri1951–1952OklahomaDwight R. G. Palmer1952–1953New York1953–1955Virginia1955–1962Pennsylvania1962–1965Indiana (acting)1965–1966District of Columbia (acting)1966–1968Oklahoma (acting)1968–1969Minnesota (acting)1969–1970Minnesota1970–1972Texas19721972New York1973–1974New York1974–1977District of Columbia1977–1978North Carolina1978–1979Massachusetts1979–1981Connecticut1981–1983Missouri1983–1985Massachusetts1985–1989District of Columbia1989–19911991–1995CaliforniaR. Scott Pastrick1995–1997Maryland1997–19991999–20172017–2021New York2021–presentPennsylvania

History The DNC has existed since 1848. During the 1848 Democratic National Convention, a resolution was passed creating the Democratic National Committee, composed of thirty members, one person per state, chosen by the states' delegations, and chaired by Benjamin F. Hallett.

In order to strengthen the national party organization, Franklin Roosevelt proposed in 1925 that the DNC should open a permanent headquarters in order to function "every day in every year" and exist on a "business-like financial basis." In 1929, John Raskob led the creation of the first permanent national headquarters for the DNC in Washington, DC.

Social media presence Founded in 2025, DNC-run fact-checking account "@FactPostNews" is active on TikTok, Facebook, Threads, Bluesky, and X (formerly Twitter).

The DNC also operates the official account of Democratic Party on X, "@TheDemocrats". According to speculations, the account is run by Paulina Mangubat, deputy chief mobilisation officer of DNC. The account is actually managed by a team of about ten DNC staffers.

Fairness Doctrine campaign According to a 1975 report in The New York Times, the Democratic National Committee funded clandestine campaigns to use the Fairness Doctrine to target conservative radio broadcasters who were critical of the John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson administrations. The DNC funded journalist Fred J. Cook and directed his complaint with the FCC, which ultimately led to the 1969 Red Lion Broadcasting Co. v. FCC Supreme Court decision upholding the Fairness Doctrine.

Watergate

In the 1970s, the DNC had its head office, located in the Watergate complex at the time, burglarized by entities working for Richard Nixon's administration during the Watergate scandal.

Chinagate

Chinagate was an alleged effort by the People's Republic of China to influence domestic American politics prior to and during the Clinton administration. In 2002, the Federal Election Commission fined the Democratic National Committee $115,000 for its part in fundraising violations in 1996.

Cyber attacks

Cyber attacks and hacks were claimed by or attributed to various individual and groups such as: