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 will elect a new chair on Saturday as the party seeks new leadership to guide Democrats through 

Eight candidates have lined up to replace 

. The contest will be decided at the DNC’s winter meeting in suburban Washington.

This is not a flashy election, although big questions loom about money, strategy and diversity.

The leading candidates, Minnesota's Ken Martin and Wisconsin’s Ben Wikler, are low-profile state party chairs with few obvious differences in how they would lead. Neither candidate is promising radical change. And those who are, including former Bernie Sanders campaign chief Faiz Shakir and former presidential candidate Marianne Williamson, are considered long shots at best.

The debate has largely focused on the nuts and bolts of political campaigns: messaging, media strategy, fundraising and on-the-ground organizing. On those issues, the candidates largely agree that changes are needed to improve the party's brand — especially among 

The election is expected to take place Saturday afternoon. It will be livestreamed by the DNC on its YouTube page.

Here’s what we’re watching leading up to the election:

Many DNC members believe this to be a two-man race.

Martin, 51, and Wikler, 43, are the overwhelming favorites. Both are generally well regarded among the DNC’s 448 voting members, who are largely state officials themselves.

Also in the race: Williamson, the activist and author; former Maryland governor and Biden administration official Martin O’Malley; and Shakir, who managed Sanders’ last presidential campaign.

Absent a well-known elected official or inspirational leader, there is a sense that the membership prefers someone from the operative class who's dedicated to the unglamorous work of building state party infrastructure on the ground. Martin is promising to be “the organizer in chief” if elected. And Wikler is calling for a proactive political strategy for all 50 states.

As one DNC insider put it, the party’s leadership wants a nerd.

The Democratic Party is in crisis. With Trump 

 in Washington, Democrats have no obvious leader, no clear strategy to stop the Republican president’s agenda and no plan to address the challenges that plagued them last fall.

The next DNC chair will be the de facto face of the party in the media. Behind the scenes, he or she will shape the party’s message, political strategy and state-based infrastructure and decide how to spend tens of millions of dollars in political donations.

It’s not an easy job. Democratic leaders 

, when the party lost the popular vote for the first time in 20 years and saw significant defections among young people, African Americans, Latinos and working-class whites.

For now, the leading candidates are promising to embrace a new media strategy to reach broader audiences. They also want to double down on party organizing, echoing former Chair Howard Dean’s “50-state strategy.” That’s despite Democrats’ overwhelming advantages in money and staffing last election, which did little to stop Trump’s victory.

One more task on the next chair’s plate: organizing the party’s next presidential primary process. Private discussions are already underway about the 2028 contest, which promises a crowded field of top-tier presidential prospects.

Fundraising is one of the key disputes in the race

Wikler has the backing of billionaire donor Reid Hoffman, the LinkedIn co-founder, among several governors and members of Congress.

But Democrats in Washington are actively attacking 

Trump’s cozy relationship with billionaires

 and tech titans in his new administration. And some of Wikler’s opponents are suggesting, albeit gently, that his relationship with Democratic billionaires could complicate the party’s anti-Trump message, which has focused on the president’s alliances with the ultra-wealthy to, as 

Still, fundraising is a huge part of the chair's job. And Wikler’s team welcomes scrutiny of his fundraising record.

Specifically, Wikler’s team says the Wisconsin state party raised $183 million since he became party chairman in 2019, which is more than twice as much as Minnesota’s state party raised under Martin's leadership over the same period.

The DNC has been led by a person of color or a woman since 2011, a reflection of the party’s commitment to the diverse groups that make up the backbone of the Democratic coalition.

If Wikler or Martin wins, as is expected, the DNC will be led by a white man for the first time since Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine left the position in the middle of President Barack Obama’s first term.

Some members suggest that's it’s simply a coincidence. But there is also a quiet recognition that working-class white men — many of them union members — have been leaving the Democratic Party in droves in favor of Trump’s GOP. It’s worth noting that Black and Latino men shifted rightward last fall as well.

It's unclear whether Wikler or Martin will change the party’s focus on people of color and LGBTQ+ issues, especially 

, which Republicans campaigned on heavily in the last election to paint Democrats as out of touch with working-class values.

Neither is calling for policy shifts. But they both support a Democratic message that’s much more focused on the working class and economic populism.

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The Democratic National Committee will elect a new chair Saturday as it tries to guide Democrats through Republican Donald Trump’s second presidency. Eight candidates are seeking to replace outgoing Chair Jaime Harrison, including one Minnesota candidate, Ken Martin, who is the Chairman of the state's DFL Party. 

A Democratic Party in crisis will elect its new chairman on Saturday

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