DNC chair Ken Martin makes a speech during the press conference for the DNC site visit at Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado on Wednesday, May 6, 2026.
Hyoung Chang | Denver Post | Getty Images
The Democratic National Committee on Thursday released the long-awaited autopsy of its 2024 election wipeout, only for party Chair Ken Martin to eviscerate the incomplete report as an inadequate work product.
The report, released in full along with annotations highlighting perceived shortcomings, has some sections left entirely blank, including the executive summary and conclusion. A disclaimer sits at the top of each page saying: “This document reflects the views of the author, not the DNC.”
DNC Chair Ken Martin wrote a Substack post accompanying the report, where he addressed simmering frustration over the party’s decision to shelve the report. He said he did so because the report “wasn’t ready for primetime. Not even close,” and its release would “create a distraction.”
Martin apologized that his decision to hold the report “ended up creating an even bigger distraction,” and slammed the contents of the report.
“I am not proud of this product; it does not meet my standards, and it won’t meet your standards. I don’t endorse what’s in this report, or what’s left out of it,” Martin wrote. “I could not in good faith put the DNC’s stamp of approval on it. But transparency is paramount. So, today I am releasing the report as I received it – in its entirety, unedited and unabridged – with annotations for claims that couldn’t be verified.”
The report made numerous sharp critiques of Democrats in the lead-up to the 2024 election. But it also includes annotations that the DNC says point out a lack of sourcing material or inaccuracies.
“The sad truth is Democrats have lost ground at every level from inconsistent messaging and improper planning, even as the policies the Party advances continue to earn voter support at the ballot box,” the autopsy reads in one section. “In the face of misinformation and disinformation, our candidates have proven incapable of projecting strength, unity, and leadership, and voters have drifted away.”
The report also knocks the use of the term “Bidenomics” that tied former “President [Joe] Biden — by name — to actual economic anxiety” and for focusing too much on macroeconomic factors than microeconomics, which are more important to voters.
Martin had been under intense pressure to release the report prior to Thursday. No author is listed for the report.
It’s a contrast from what the Republican National Committee did in 2013 after devasting electoral losses in 2012. The RNC commissioned a comprehensive report and released it with great fanfare, leading to changes in how the party approached minority voters and to wins at the ballot box.
The Democrats’ autopsy blamed the 2024 losses in part on “reductions in support and training for our state parties, consequential shifts in voter registration, a loss of partisan organizing capacity, and a persistent inability or unwillingness to listen to all voters has provided the other major party with opportunities for advancement at the expense of Democratic growth.”
It also knocked the party for lacking the “ability to find common ground with seemingly disparate groups of voters from coast to coast, and the heartland Democrats tend to ignore.”
The report also claimed that “many of our critical Democratic wins can be attributed to negative partisanship,” and accused the Democrats of being reliant on the GOP nominating deeply flawed candidates.
“Democrats cannot count on Republicans continuing to nominate deeply flawed candidates, and certainly need to think through how to nominate strong and ethical leaders,” it reads.
