Democratic National Committee Chairman Jaime Harrison has reportedly declined to mount a reelection bid next year after voters dealt his party a resounding blow Tuesday evening.
Harrison oversaw the South Carolina Democratic Party from 2013 to 2017 before being elected to chair the DNC in January 2021.
Nearly four years later, he will not run for renomination when the DNC holds a leadership vote early next year, according to a Reuters report. Harrison is set to hold an all-staff meeting on Wednesday and did not respond to the Washington Examiner’s request for comment.
The news comes as the Democratic Party is reeling from a string of losses following the 2024 elections, with it appearing likely that the GOP will have control of the House and Senate, in addition to the White House.
At the top of the ticket, voters dealt Democrats a staggering referendum by electing former President Donald Trump as the 47th president of the United States. Flipping a handful of battleground states red, Trump defeated Vice President Kamala Harris and clinched the Electoral College. He is also winning the popular vote by a decisive margin, making him the first Republican presidential candidate to do so in two decades.
“It was a historic realignment, uniting citizens of all backgrounds around a common core of common sense,” Trump told supporters during a victory speech early Wednesday morning after saying, “We had everybody. And it was beautiful.”
Republicans also gained a majority in the Senate, ousting vulnerable incumbent Democrats from Montana and Ohio. Republican Sen.-elects Tim Sheehy and Bernie Moreno flipped seats held by longtime Democrats, enabling the GOP to take control of the upper chamber for the first time in nearly four years.
While several tight races have yet to be called, the GOP is also hoping to retain its majority in the House. Republicans are poised to flip two Pennsylvania seats red, while Rep.-elect Tom Barrett’s win in Michigan put the GOP closer to its dreams of cementing its hold on the lower chamber. Democrats appear to be staving off several challenges in races such as Maine’s 2nd Congressional District and Washington’s 3rd Congressional District.
Yet, with results still coming in, the Democratic Party is also seeing troubling signs in critical races, such as Rep. Mary Peltola’s (D-AK) tough battle for reelection and Democrat Adam Gray’s bid in California’s 13th Congressional District.
Political pundits have described the political realignment that appears to have taken place under Harrison’s tenure as “stunning,” noting shifts, particularly in Northeastern states, that are trending toward the GOP in the aftermath of the Nov. 5 elections.
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As DNC chairman, Harrison has taken heat in the aftermath of Tuesday evening, with critics taking to X to blast him for overseeing crushing defeats.
One group of far-left activists labeled his tenure as DNC chairman “a national embarrassment,” while another organization slammed Harrison as a “failed committee chair.”