Intraparty fighting is threatening to stall the Democratic Party’s efforts to rebuild seven months after President Trump’s sweeping general election victory.
The party has also been roiled by revelations and questions about the last months of former President Biden’s administration and whether he was in the midst of a cognitive decline.
They also will have to contend with a number of high-profile primaries in the year ahead.
And ousted Democratic National Committee Vice Chair David Hogg has been at the center of controversy, using his political group to challenge incumbent House Democrats.
History suggests Democrats have a chance to win back the House in next year’s midterm elections, since the president’s party usually uses seats in such cycles.
But the multiple fractures for Democrats are a real risk.
Some Democrats acknowledge the bad vibes hanging over the party, even as they argued things are brighter than they appear.
“The narrative right now is we’re a bunch of losers running around like chickens with our heads cut off and I don’t think that’s the case,” said Mike Nellis, a Democratic strategist and former senior adviser to former Vice President Kamala Harris.
He suggested some of the party’s problems are just typical after a lost presidential election.
“We are a party out of power without a standard-bearer and that isn’t going to change until the presidential election,” he said.
Democratic infighting spilled onto center stage earlier this week when recording a recent DNC call was leaked, revealing DNC Chair Ken Martin venting about his frustration with Hogg — who denies being the source behind the leak.
The audio came out just before DNC officials were set to vote virtually on whether to redo the vice chair elections.
Later in the week, DNC members voted to redo the vice chair elections of Hogg and Pennsylvania state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta (D). Hogg said after the vote that he would not seek the position again, saying he would focus on his group, Leaders We Deserve.
“It is going to remain my No. 1 mission to build the strongest party possible,” Hogg said.
But in a subsequent series of social media posts following the committee’s vote, Hogg alleged that Democratic Party leaders had been “asleep at the wheel.”
“It became clear that Leaders We Deserve had to start primarying incumbents and directly challenging the culture of seniority politics that brought our party to this place to help get our party into fighting shape again,” Hogg said.
Many Democrats have expressed public frustration with Hogg over the past few weeks, though Nellis said its importance is overstated.
“That is typical, classic, internal party fighting that happens everywhere and it gets outsized attention to its importance,” he said.
“Could our messaging be stronger? Yeah. Could we be more forceful in the way we’re approaching these fights? Absolutely. But we are a unified party and we are fighting the worst of what Donald Trump is doing,” he continued.
Democrats point to a slew of special election victories that have taken place within the first months of Trump’s second administration as evidence the party is already hitting back and galvanizing against the administration.
Last month, Douglas County, Neb., Treasurer John Ewing Jr. (D) ousted incumbent Omaha Republican Mayor Jean Stothert in a special election. That win followed a flipped Iowa state Senate seat in January and a win in an open Pennsylvania state Senate seat in March that Trump comfortably won in November.
“Some people in DC just want to win the argument, but I’m focused on winning elections. Since the start of the year, Democrats have an unprecedented track record of 30 wins and overperformances in races across the country, and up and down the ballot,” Martin said in a statement to The Hill. “That’s what I was elected to do, and we’re doing it. Now, we are laser focused on winning in November 2025 and the midterms in 2026.”
Still, with DNC tensions laid bare and finger-pointing over Biden’s presidency persisting, Democrats have looked anything but unified from the outside.
Democrats push back on the notion that they are the only party that is facing disunity at this moment, pointing to disagreements among Republicans on Trump’s legislative agenda and the very public falling out between Trump and billionaire businessman Elon Musk.
Amid his feud with Musk last week, Trump’s approval rating in the Decision Desk HQ/The Hill average ticked down to 47.5 percent, 2 points less than his disapproval rating of 49.5 percent.
“Donald Trump has had the two worst weeks of his presidential term,” Nellis said, referring to recent economic data and Trump’s feud with Musk. “And immediately Donald Trump decides to execute an attempt to change the conversation to immigration and as always, he’s taken it too far.”
Trump’s move to deploy troops to Los Angeles this week, coupled with Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) being forcibly removed from a press conference featuring Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, has served as a unifying moment for Democrats against Trump.
“If it’s framed as immigration, Trump wins that argument. This is not about immigration, this is about government overreach,” Nellis said.
Democratic strategist Antjuan Seawright said it was time for Democrats to take back the narrative on the issue.
“I think it’s one of those issues where we’re going to have to grab the microphone on and let the other side know that they don’t control the issue,” he said. “I do think that bread and butter pocketbook issues are still going to run the day.”
The first major test of Democrats’ unity will come in November in Virginia and New Jersey’s off-year elections. While the two elections do not always act as an accurate barometer ahead of the midterms, statewide wins would give Democrats a needed boost in making their 2026 argument.
“Everything has to be about our electoral success, expanding the map, as well as growing and strengthening our coalition,” Seawright said.
“I think in this moment we’ll be judged every step along the way before 2028.”
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