DNC to keep 2024 election after-action report findings sealed

“Here’s our North Star: Does this help us win?” DNC Chairman Ken Martin said

Published: December 18, 2025 1:24pm

The Democratic National Committee said Thursday that it will keep its findings of the 2024 election after-action report sealed, after Chairman Ken Martin ordered the review earlier this year.

Martin said that he had decided not to publish the report, after promising, when he was elected in February, an audit of the party's mistakes last year, which cost it the Senate an White House, and a roadmap for the future, The New York Times reported.

A DNC spokeswoman told the Times on the condition of anonymity that Martin believes looking back so publicly and painfully at the past would be counterproductive for the party as it tries to take back power in Congress next year.

“Here’s our North Star: Does this help us win?” Martin said in a statement. “If the answer is no, it’s a distraction from the core mission.”

“In our conversations with stakeholders from across the Democratic ecosystem, we are aligned on what’s important, and that’s learning from the past and winning the future.”

Martin's decision comes after Democrats had significant election victories this year, including winning statewide races in New Jersey and Virginia.

People who were initially briefed on the planned document over the summer had said it would avoid the question of whether former President Biden should have run for reelection, as well as key decisions from former Vice President Kamala Harris's campaign.

There was disagreement behind the scenes about the audit’s scope and who should take the brunt of the blame for Harris’s loss. Also, some senior Harris officials declined to be interviewed.

DNC officials provided the Times a summary of some of the report’s findings, which included determining that peer-to-peer text messaging had not actually generated meaningful conversations or moved the needle in persuading voters. The review also found that the party had been too focused on the quantity of doors knocked on and calls made rather than on quality interactions.

Trump campaign officials last year had mocked the statistics that the Harris team was releasing, arguing that the Republican operation was more narrowly and effectively targeting its outreach to lower-propensity voters.

The report also determined that Democrats did not spend sufficiently on streaming services to reach younger voters — who the review said are a new swing coalition — and that the party’s data infrastructure appeared strained.

The review noted that the party last year had operated defensively on issues like public safety and immigration, while ceding ground on the economy to Republicans.

The Facts Inside Our Reporter's Notebook

Unlock unlimited access

  • No Ads Within Stories
  • No Autoplay Videos
  • VIP access to exclusive Just the News newsmaker events hosted by John Solomon and his team.
  • Support the investigative reporting and honest news presentation you've come to enjoy from Just the News.
  • Just the News Spotlight

    Support Just the News