The Democratic Party has been wringing its hands and debating a course for its future. It also needs a new leader. 

Current Democratic National Committee Chairman Jaime Harrison isn’t seeking another term, and the party is preparing to select his replacement. In the month since Democrats lost the 2024 election, several names have emerged as contenders, including Ben Wikler, current head of the Wisconsin Democratic Party; Minnesota Democratic Farmer Labor Party Chair Ken Martin; and former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley — all of whom have announced their candidacies for the role. Even veteran Democratic strategist Rahm Emanuel, the current U.S. ambassador to Japan, has been suggested to fill the position.

Largely left out of the conversation: Black women, the backbone of the Democratic Party, and the staunchest supporters of Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign, backing the nominee at a rate of 92 percent in November. Given their outsized performance in the election and their exhaustion in the wake of a disappointing result, I wondered whether their absence was intentional on their part, the party’s — or both.

I reached out to Marcia Fudge, an ally of Harris’ who worked on her campaign, who also noticed the omission. She said that while there were other Black people in senior leadership in the party who had asked her to consider running, she ultimately decided she’s not interested in the role. Still, Fudge said she was saddened “that I haven’t heard any other Black names” mentioned.

“There should never be a conversation in the Democratic Party that does not include a Black woman,” Fudge said.

A national political party chair is not always a household name, but the role is an important one, particularly in years where the party is out of power in the White House. They are the party’s standard-bearer, its public face, its primary fundraiser, cheerleader and messenger.

Black women have long been regarded as the Democratic Party’s most loyal and consistent voting bloc. But in recent years, Black women have increasingly demanded that they be valued not just for their output, but for their input, and have fought to claim their seat at the table and to help set the party’s agenda.  

A record seven Black women were state party chairs this election cycle. As of this writing, none have announced their interest or intent to succeed current chair Jaime Harrison, only the second Black man to chair the committee. Donna Brazile is the only Black woman to serve as acting chair of the committee.

Elections for the next chair are scheduled for February 1.

Two meetings with implications for the future of the party were held this week on opposite ends of the country: Power Rising, a group of politically active Black women including activists, politicians, and business leaders, met in Florida as the state party chairs gathered in Arizona.

Georgia Rep. Nikema Williams, who chairs her state’s Democratic Party, skipped the convening in Arizona this week, choosing instead to tend to congressional and family business in Washington. 

But she was also frank about feeling jilted by the party. Donald Trump flipped Georgia back to a red state four years after President Joe Biden and Democrats won there for the first time in a generation in 2020, but Harris won nearly 75,000 more votes in Georgia in November. (Trump’s total in the state increased by more than 200,000 votes.)

Still, there have been calls for Williams to step aside as party chair as Democrats look to the 2026 midterm elections.

“I’ve made a lot of sacrifices for a party I don’t always feel the same reciprocal love from,” Williams told me this week. “Georgia performed better than every battleground state in the country, but I’m being asked to resign and other people are being floated for DNC chair.”

South Carolina Democratic Party Chair Christale Spain was in Arizona this week and said that while she was surprised that no one has mentioned a Black woman to lead the DNC, she’s not surprised that Black women aren’t stepping up to run after a hard-fought race. Spain said she hasn’t gotten a call about running, but added she’s also not interested in the job. 

“Being chair of the DNC is an absolutely thankless job,” Spain said. “Being a Black woman in these types of leadership roles requires a lot of support. … You have to know going in that you’re going to be supported. I don’t know if that’s the hesitation with Black women stepping up to run.”

Spain said that Harris’ historic run that ended in defeat felt like “a slap in the face” to many Black women, including those who worked to get her elected. To them, she said, the loss “makes you think about what that glass ceiling is.”

“It’s double-paned for Black women,” Spain said. 

She said she doesn’t want to see a leadership void of Black women among Democrats and said there are many qualified Black women who could do the job of mobilizing the party and shaping its future. 

“Why not a Black woman?” Spain asked. “I don’t want to see the Democratic Party ‘make America great again’ by not having any representation in response to what’s happened.”