WASHINGTON– The Democratic Party faces existential questions after Donald Trump’s resounding statement victory. One of the first: who will direct it?

Chairman of the Democratic National Committee Jaime Harrison is not expected to seek a second term, opening a position that must be filled by March 1, according to party statutes. Whoever fills the job will say a lot about how the party wants to present itself in the future and what issues members say have hampered Democrats against Trump in 2024.

The new president will also oversee the party’s nomination process for 2028, a complex and controversial exercise that will place this person at the heart of the next presidential election. Harrison was ridiculed for supporting President Joe Biden, even as many Democratic voters questioned whether the president should run again. He was accused after Biden’s disastrous debate performance push for a virtual call before Biden chose to step down.

The early debate over replacing Harrison appears to revolve around a clear dividing line: Do Democrats need an operative with clear skills and experience in overhauling the party’s infrastructure? Or does the party need a communicator who can respond to whatever the Trump administration plans to do and sell Democratic ideas to a public that rejected them at the polls?

“They need to find someone outside of Washington who understands politics at the local level,” said Howard Dean, a former president who took the job after George W. Bush won a second term as president. Dean said he had received calls from members urging him to run, but he had no plans to do so. “The DNC is often a creation of Washington, which is a major problem. … We need to have a DNC large enough to include the entire country.”

Top Democrats are scheduled to meet privately in Scottsdale, Arizona, in mid-December. There is already speculation among attendees that serious candidates will attend the meeting or at least be announced by then.

Following Tuesday’s brawls, there’s a sense, at least among some of the DNC’s rank and file, that the committee’s more than 440 voting members might be more likely to accept an outsider with close ties to the establishment party official. Some would also like the new president to fill a full-time role, which would present challenges for a current incumbent.

“As the party looks to the future, we must be positioned for the important work of unifying and strengthening Democrats at every level, and to hold Trump’s Republican Party accountable for the harm it will inflict on the American people ” said Rosemary Boeglin, spokesperson. for the committee. “In the coming weeks, we will establish a process for electing a new president to guide us on the path forward. »

Top leaders on the minds of several prominent Democrats include Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, former Georgia lawmaker Stacey Abrams, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, former Texas Rep. Beto O’ Rourke, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg; and Martin O’Malley, former governor of Maryland and current commissioner of the Social Security Administration.

The more low-key itinerary includes state party chairs Ken Martin, the chairman of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party and a national party vice chairman; Ben Wikler, chairman of the Wisconsin Democratic Party; and Michael Blake, former party vice-president.

Murphy and O’Malley have already held preliminary discussions with DNC members and donors in recent days, according to people with direct knowledge of the action. It is unknown if they will participate in the race.

O’Rourke, said a person familiar with his thinking but granted anonymity to speak openly, is being urged to lead by donors and operatives.

Beshear, 46, a two-term Democratic governor in a state carried by Trump twice by more than 25 points, has no interest in the presidency, according to a person close to him who requested anonymity to share discussions internal.

Buttigieg, who unsuccessfully ran for president in 2017, has no plans to run, said a person close to the secretary who requested anonymity to speak openly about his thinking.

And a source close to Abrams, who requested anonymity to speak openly, said she was not interested in becoming president.

Martin, who contacted all state party presidents, vice presidents and executive directors the day before the election, began a new round of temperature-taking phone calls on Friday.

“People have contacted me to introduce myself,” Martin told the Associated Press. “I haven’t decided at this point.”

Wikler did not answer questions about the position, but in the wake of Democrats’ defeats across the country, he touted what he and his team accomplished in Wisconsin.

“The red wave hit this year: a national swing (tilde) of 6% to Trump, compared to 2020 margins,” Wikler posted on X. “In Wisconsin, thousands of heroes reduced the swing to 1 .5%. More D votes statewide & in 46 counties. Tammy Baldwin won. Huge victories in the state legislature.

He added: “Deeply grateful to everyone – it was important. »

Blake told The Associated Press on Friday that he was “seriously considering” running.

“When we came in eight years ago, we built something that was successful and won,” Blake said, reflecting on his tenure as vice president. “It’s impossible to look at what happened on Tuesday without thinking that significant change is needed.” Blake, who previously served in the New York State Assembly, also said he was hesitant to run for DNC chair over running for New York City mayor.

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent who criticized party leaders earlier in the week for abandoning workers, is expected to play an active role in the DNC’s choice — at least behind the scenes. Sanders did the same following the party’s 2016 election defeat when he worked privately to bolster former Minnesota Rep. Keith Ellison, although Ellison ultimately lost to former Labor Secretary Tom Perez.

Sanders allies say the party is taking his concerns more seriously after Tuesday’s beating.

Presidential defeats routinely force parties to ask sweeping questions about everything from their message to their infrastructure to their core beliefs, and this loss will be no different for Democrats. After Hillary Clinton’s defeat in 2016, the committee was lambasted as an unprofessional organization. These issues were at the heart of the fight for committee chairmanship in 2017 and led the committee to rebuild itself during Trump’s first term. That now creates a dilemma for the party: The national committee hasn’t received the kind of blame it received after the first loss to Trump, but it also means the answers Democrats are seeking are much less clear.

Many committee members believe this is not the time for the party to focus on one specific skill within one chair to the detriment of others. Instead, this group argues, you need someone with a broad skill set.

“It has to be someone who can raise money. It has to be someone who is a good communicator. And it has to be someone who can look toward modernization,” said Maria Cardona, a longtime Democratic activist and DNC member who opposes the president being a current elected official.

“Unlike Trump, we believe in the peaceful transfer of power,” Cardona said. “But we are not going to concede the fight.”