As Democrats look toward the 2026 midterm elections, party officials and activists remain divided over the Democratic National Committee’s decision to keep an internal review of the party’s 2024 presidential defeat private.
The Democratic National Committee has decided not to publicly release its internal “autopsy” examining what went wrong for Democrats in the 2024 election cycle.
In a statement issued in mid-December 2025, DNC Chair Ken Martin framed the decision as a matter of priorities, arguing that the party’s focus should remain on winning upcoming elections.
“Here’s our North Star: Does this help us win? If the answer is no, it’s a distraction from the core mission,” Martin said.
The move has drawn mixed reactions within the party, with some Democrats arguing that making the findings public could help rebuild trust and sharpen strategy, while others say reopening a contentious postmortem risks fueling intraparty blame and distracting from efforts to retake congressional majorities in 2026.