Democratic drama: Union leader exits underscore DNC divisions
by Julia Manchester
The departure of two major union presidents from their posts at the Democratic National Committee (DNC) is raising questions about lingering internal divisions as the party seeks to regroup.
News surfaced Sunday that American Federation of Teachers union President Randi Weingarten and American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees President Lee Saunders would decline to be reappointed as at-large members of the committee.
Both endorsed DNC Chair Ken Martin’s former opponent Ben Wikler in the party chair’s race earlier this year, and both were later removed by Martin from the DNC’s Rules and Bylaws Committee.
The two cited internal disagreements in their decisions to leave the DNC; their exits are the latest examples of internal disagreements within the party spilling out into the open.
“It shows that we’re not united,” said Douglas Wilson, a North Carolina-based Democratic strategist. “Every time we have a situation where prominent people are exiting their posts — not the party, but their posts at the DNC — that becomes the narrative as opposed to what the Trump administration is doing.”
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Other Democrats have brushed off the departures as not completely out of the ordinary.
“There is zero daylight between Chairman Martin and the vast, vast majority of DNC members,” said New York state Sen. James Skoufis (D), who ran for DNC chair earlier this year and backed Martin after dropping out.
“There are always going to be a couple of members, a few members who from administration to administration are not going to be completely aligned and are not going to want to continue as members. And so that always happens,” he said.
Weingarten and Saunders informed Martin in separate letters that they were declining to be nominated as at-large members of the DNC.
“While I am a proud Democrat, I appear to be out of step with the leadership you are forging, and I do not want to be the one who keeps questioning why we are not enlarging our tent and actively trying to engage more and more of our community,” Weingarten wrote to Martin in a letter dated June 5.
In his letter dated May 27, Saunders wrote to Martin that “this moment demands unwavering focus, discipline, and clarity.”
“It demands that we devote every ounce of our energy to defending our members, protecting our collective bargaining rights and making sure that all workers know we are in their corner and we are fighting,” he wrote.
A source close to the DNC told The Hill that Weingarten’s exit did not come as a surprise.
“Ever since the horse she bet on in the chair’s race lost, she has always been on the other side of the fence as Ken — this is no surprise,” the source said.
And in a statement following news Saunders was leaving the committee, DNC Labor Council Chair Stuart Appelbaum praised Martin as a leader who understands “workers are the backbone of the Democratic Party.”
A separate Democratic source described Weingarten’s and Saunders’s support of Wikler during the race as “hyperintense,” noting they were “bitter” with the outcome of the race.
“It was very clear to me that they were looking to blow up the DNC,” the source said. “[Martin] is not looking to blow the place up.”
The two unions represent significant Democratic constituencies. The American Federation of Teachers boasts more than 1.8 million members, while the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees has more than 1.3 million members. The groups and their leaders are also expected to continue to play major roles in the Democratic ecosystem. Some Democrats note Weingarten’s and Saunders’s departures come after Republicans made inroads with some union constituencies in 2024.
“Although Republicans are not sweeping unions, Republicans are starting to be viewed by union members as the party of the people who have to take a shower after work or, in this case, the people who have to take an Excedrin after work,” Wilson said.
Critics of the departures have been quick to label the moves as “a distraction,” noting how the two letters surfaced Sunday evening.
“We don’t have to have all of these disputes and conversations in the public sphere, because it does not help the overall cause and the overall good,” said Antjuan Seawright, a Democratic strategist and former adviser to former DNC Chair Jaime Harrison.
“No matter what the disagreement may be, it does not compare to the disagreements that we have with the other side,” he continued.
John Verdejo, a DNC member from North Carolina, said he sees the situation as coming down to “bruised egos.”
“The fact they decided to go public with this, on a matter that is internal, on top of all that is going on, speaks volumes and more about them,” Verdejo said.
Last week, the DNC was moving forward after David Hogg announced he would not be vying for his spot as vice chair in the DNC after an overwhelming majority of committee members voted to redo the vice chair elections of Hogg and Pennsylvania state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta, who was elected again to the post Saturday.
Hogg has faced backlash from Democrats for launching his organization, Leaders We Deserve, that would primary incumbent House Democrats in an effort to bring about generational change within the party, all while he was serving as a vice chair.
Weingarten expressed support in April for Hogg’s efforts to get involved in Democratic primaries, but her exit letter was written prior to Hogg’s decision to not run for vice chair again.
“It’s very obvious to most that Randi was channeling that disappointment with the [chair] race through David Hogg, because David Hogg obviously was a very significant disrupter,” the second Democratic source said.
Seawright argued the departures present Martin with the opportunity to bring new members into the vacated spots.
“Randi has been around the DNC for a very long time, so maybe her resignation is another opportunity for another generation of leadership who wants to do the work ahead that’s going to be required of us as Democrats,” he said.
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