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Democratic National Committee Chairman Ken Martin said Republicans are trying to turn back the clock on voting rights in Mississippi and vowed that the national party won’t write off the red state as he headlined a fundraiser in Jackson on Friday.
Martin’s appearance in Jackson comes one day after he released the DNC’s 2024 election autopsy, a move that came after months of pressure. Martin has faced intense backlash for his handling of the autopsy, with some Democratic members of Congress calling for his resignation.
There was no mention of the autopsy in Martin’s remarks, as he instead drew attention to the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling gutting the Voting Rights Act and efforts by Republicans across the South to redraw electoral districts to weaken Black voting strength.
“We’re in a moment right now in this country, thanks to the Callais decision brought forward by Republicans, brought forward by the conservative movement which has been fighting tooth and nail ever since President Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act into law to dismantle civil rights, to dismantle voting rights, to take us back to the Jim Crow era,” Martin said. “When you elect bad people into office, here we are in this moment right now.”
Martin was in Jackson for the Hamer-Winter Dinner, an annual gathering honoring the legacy of former Democratic governor William Winter and Civil Rights leader Fannie Lou Hamer. The event brings together Democratic activists, elected officials, donors and community leaders from across the state, party leaders said.
Martin was joined by DNC Vice Chair Malcolm Kenyatta, a former Pennsylvania state lawmaker, who said national party leaders would not ignore Mississippi despite the Republican dominance of the state’s government.
“There are a lot of people, particularly in the Beltway, who don’t understand why the chair and vice chair of the Democratic Party are in Mississippi,” Kenyatta said. “We’re going to continue to be a party that doesn’t just talk about the South, but shows up in the South.”
The event was hosted by social media personality Brett “Papa Mississippi” Kenyon and Comedian Rita Brent, who in January interviewed Kamala Harris at the Jackson stop of the former vice president’s book tour. State party leaders said the appearance of the national Democratic leaders underscores a message that no state is written off, even bright-red Mississippi, as Democrats aim to find new pockets of support ahead of the federal midterm elections this fall.
“People didn’t believe that Mississippi needed investment,” said state Rep. Cheikh Taylor, chairman of the Mississippi Democratic Party. “But Chairman Ken Martin did, and he sent out marching orders to the rest of the DNC to invest in Mississippi.”
The Callais ruling places Mississippi and other Southern states at the center of a national partisan and racial battle over redistricting, a fight that will unfold as the DNC aims to help Democrats reclaim majorities in Congress in November’s midterm election.
On Wednesday, thousands of people gathered in Jackson to protest those efforts and mobilize people to vote in November.
Democrats hold only one of six seats in the state’s congressional delegation. Republicans have left little doubt that they intend at some point in the coming years to redraw Mississippi’s congressional district maps to oust Rep. Bennie Thompson, the state’s lone Democrat and lone Black member of Congress.
Thompson was in attendance on Friday night, seated at Martin’s table.
Thompson, 78, reflected on his long tenure and referenced a famous line in “The Godfather,” as he promised to make Democrats “an offer they can’t refuse” to beat Republicans this November.
“It’s been a long journey, and I’ve seen a lot,” Thompson said. “At some point, you make folks mad. This state didn’t get on the bottom by itself. We had leaders who just did not give a tinker’s damn about the majority of the people in this state. So we have to do better. I’m in it to win it. I don’t care what it is. I was called a terrorist two weeks ago, and now I’m a godfather.”
In a radio interview last week, Mississippi Republican Gov. Tate Reeves said Thompson’s “reign of terror” was coming to an end.
Other Democratic power players in the room included Patrick Gaspard, who served as U.S. Ambassador to South Africa during the Obama administration, Jackson Mayor John Horhn and state legislative Democratic Leaders Rep. Robert Johnson and Sen. Derrick Simmons.
Horhn said he met with Martin earlier that day, and they discussed the need to increase voter turnout in Mississippi and craft a message that went beyond bashing Republicans. State Rep. Justis Gibbs of Jackson, who introduced some of the party’s congressional nominees, said running campaigns that inspire younger voters was key to Democrats’ future.
Scott Colom, the party’s nominee for this year’s U.S. Senate race, delivered remarks, as did three of the party’s nominees for U.S. House: Cliff Johnson, Michael Chiaradio and Jeffrey Hulum. They criticized President Trump’s agenda and said its unpopularity would make it easier for them to win.
In his remarks, Martin said the national Democratic Party needed to do a better job of delivering on its campaign promises and showing up in places such as Mississippi more than every two years during federal elections.
“I want to tell you right now that the reason I’m here, I love this Democratic Party, but the reason I ran for this position was not to keep doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result, but to make sure that we actually stand up, use the power we have when we have it, to do the things we say we’re going to do to make a difference in people’s lives,” Martin said.
As Martin mingled with Mississippi Democratic officials on Friday evening at the Two Mississippi Museums, the backlash to his handling of the autopsy was still a major topic online.
Martin commissioned the autopsy report after he was elected DNC chair in early 2025 following President Donald Trump’s return to the White House. But after he received the report, Martin refused for months to release it to the public, citing his desire to avoid “dwelling on 2024.”
When Martin finally released the unredacted report on Thursday, it contained a bright red disclaimer at the top stating that the DNC was not “provided with the underlying sourcing, interviews, or supporting data for many of the assertions contained” in the document. It also contained annotations showing the autopsy was riddled with factual errors — notes such as “Public reporting and data contradict several claims” were scattered throughout the document.
In a Substack post accompanying the release of the autopsy, he said the report didn’t meet his standards and apologized for his handling of the matter.
“In short, I didn’t want to create a distraction,” Martin wrote. “Ironically, in doing so, I ended up creating an even bigger distraction. And for that, I sincerely apologize.”
Martin, who led Minnesota’s Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party before winning the DNC Chairmanship after Trump’s re-election in 2024, has promised to strengthen Democratic infrastructure across the country as the party contends with internal struggles over fundraising and messaging.
In a statement before the dinner, Mississippi Republican Party Chairman Mike Hurst said the event shows Mississippi Democrats are out of touch with most voters in the state.
“It’s a sad time for Mississippi Democrats, as they have become so desperate that they are now importing national liberal leaders into our state, despite their failed policies and scandals which are driving voters away from their party across the country,” Hurst said. “Before Chairman Ken Martin and Vice Chairman Malcolm Kenyatta come asking for money from Mississippians, they need to answer for the extreme agenda they advocate for and represent.”
Martin said the Republican Party’s agenda was bad for Mississippi and that he plans to build a party that improves people’s lives even in places Democrats don’t control.
“We’re going to give people in this state and around the nation hope that their better days are ahead of them,” Martin said.
