DNC Chairman Ken Martin speaks during the DNC site visit press conference at Ball Arena on Wednesday, May 6, 2026 in Denver, Colorado.
Chang Hyun | Denver Post | Getty Images
The Democratic National Committee released its long-awaited autopsy on the 2024 election wipeout on Thursday, but party chairman Ken Martin only watered down the incomplete report as an inadequate work product.
The report is published in full with notes highlighting perceived shortcomings, but some sections, such as the executive summary and conclusions, are completely blank. At the top of each page is a disclaimer that says, “This document reflects the views of the author and not of the DNC.”
In a Substack post accompanying the report, DNC Chairman Ken Martin addressed lingering frustration with the party’s decision to shelve the report. He said he did so because the report “wasn’t ready for prime time. It wasn’t even close” and said it could be “distracting” if it were released.
Martin apologized and slammed the report, saying his decision to withhold the report “resulted in even greater confusion.”
“I am not proud of this product. This product does not meet my standards and will not meet yours. I do not support what is in this report or what is left out of it,” Martin wrote. “I could not in good faith put the DNC’s seal of approval on this report, but transparency is paramount, so today I am publishing the report as I received it, unedited and unsummarized, with annotations about the claims I could not verify.”
The report makes a number of sharp criticisms of the Democratic Party ahead of the 2024 election. However, the DNC said it also included notes pointing out missing and inaccurate procurement documents.
“The sad truth is that inconsistent messaging and poor planning are causing Democrats to lose ground at every level, even as the policies they promote continue to win support from voters at the polls,” the autopsy said in part. “In the face of misinformation and disinformation, our candidates proved unable to demonstrate strength, unity, and leadership, and voters turned away.”
The report also rejects the use of the term “Bidenomics,” which had linked “former President Joe Biden by name to actual economic instability,” and too much focus on macroeconomic factors rather than microeconomics, which are more important to voters.
Mr Martin was under intense pressure to release his report by Thursday. The report does not list an author.
This is in contrast to what the Republican National Committee did in 2013 after a landslide election loss in 2012. The RNC produced a comprehensive report and released it with great fanfare. The result was a shift in how the party approached minority voters, leading to victories at the polls.
The Democratic Party’s autopsy attributed the 2024 defeat in part to “the decline in support and training for our political parties, the resulting shifts in voter registration, the loss of partisan organizational strength, and a persistent inability or reluctance to listen to all voters, giving opportunities to other major parties to advance at the expense of Democratic growth.”
The party was also criticized for lacking “the ability to find common ground with seemingly disparate groups of voters from coast to coast” and with people in core regions that Democrats tend to ignore.
The report also argued that “many of the Democratic Party’s key victories can be attributed to passive partisanship,” accusing Democrats of relying on Republicans to nominate deeply flawed candidates.
“Democrats cannot expect Republicans to continue nominating deeply flawed candidates, and they certainly need to think through how they nominate strong, ethical leaders.”
