1/26/25 update:

Trump's second presidency is a harrowing time for America. The rights and lives of our fellow citizens, the health of our economy and the very existence of our democracy are already sustaining a withering assault from Trump and his allies.

As the Democratic Party charts a path forward to fight back against these attacks and minimize the damage, we also need to take stock of how we can do better. One Trump election could be considered a fluke--two constitutes a five-alarm fire. Democrats have steadily been losing ground with voters across the demographic board. We have lost influence in almost every media channel from AM radio to the newest social networks. We have to look inward at how we got here and what we can do better.

I wrote my longer, broad strokes analysis of what Democrats and left-leaning groups need to do better here in a piece at the Washington Monthly: "What Moderates and Progressives Got Wrong (and Right) About the Democratic Electoral Defeat." I hope we can take some of these lessons to heart as we rebuild trust with dispirited and persuadable voters.

The DNC as the official and most visible body of the Democratic Party must also be reformed and improved. My friend and fellow DNC member Michael Kapp and I wrote a piece also at Washington Monthly on what we need from the next party leaders at the DNC. The piece has already been cited and quoted at The Wall Street Journal, The Week and elsewhere. I hope that no matter who is elected as DNC Chair and executive officers at our election meeting on February 1st, they will implement these reforms. Included on the list are:

1. Commit to funding progressive/liberal alternative media that can help drive truthful narratives year-round and combat far-right misinformation.
2. Be more comfortable with authentic messages and messengers that don’t neatly fit the day’s talking points. Avoid succumbing to banal gestures like policy or the ever-popular “let’s form a commission to study the problem.” 
3. Support state parties. The DNC must deliver ongoing and grant-based funding to local parties and state organizers across all 57 states and territories and listen to those organizers when they signal dangers the party must address. 
4. Empower DNC Members to organize for positive outcomes nationally and in their home states. DNC members should be able to communicate with one another.
5. Dilute the Chair’s power, significantly reducing its appointments so the DNC can be more agile and accountable. 
6. Limit the power of the usual D.C.-based consultants to make funding and messaging decisions. This is one of many reasons the next DNC Chair should be full-time and live in DC. 
7. Follow the party’s rules and bylaws, even under pressure from elected officials to do otherwise. The next DNC Chair should avoid conflicts of interest by not taking any outside sources of income. 
8. Emphasize small-dollar donations and curb dark money. 
9. Enact a primary calendar that will battle-test our nominees and better emphasize the voices of Hispanic and Asian Americans in swing states.  
10. The DNC’s budget must be open to members, and topline decisions (such as the primary calendar, the quadrennial Convention site selection, the number of presidential primary debates, and their entry rules) must be discussed and ratified by the entire DNC. Members of the public should be able to quickly identify and contact their DNC Members and attend DNC meetings. 
11. Win and hold elected Democrats accountable. The primary responsibility of the next DNC Chair is to win elections. Democrats must win the White House in 2028, but a Democratic Congress in 2026 will be essential to protect Americans from a second Trump Administration. And down-ballot races are necessary for rebuilding our bench of elected Democrats. Finally, Democratic officeholders must be held to the ideals and views set out in the 2024 National Party Platform. Unlike MAGA Republicans, who go along with the whims of an increasingly erratic octogenarian with fascist views, Democrats stand with and for the people. The next DNC Chair must be willing to stand up to a Democratic White House, Congressional leaders, and political consultants if they press the organization to place their interests ahead of the greater good. 

While I believe that both Ken Martin and Ben Wikler would make excellent DNC chairs and both have emphasized many of these reforms, I have known and worked with Ken Martin for years on many of these issues in the DNC. I have seen him not only talk the talk, but walk the walk alongside reformers when it was not popular or convenient for him to do so. Above all, I am less interested in who will raise the most money or from where, than I am in making certain that we spend it on wiser, longer term investments regardless of prior relationships. I believe that Ken Martin is best positioned to make these commitments and changes, which is why he has my endorsement.

For the rest of the positions, my primary focus is on ensuring we have candidates who are committed to these same reforms and able to do the work necessary to take the fight to Trump and his MAGA allies. To that end, I am currently supporting the following:

Chair: Ken Martin
Treasurer: Merika Coleman
National Finance Chair: Tim Lim
Secretary: Jason Rae
Vice Chair for Civic Engagement and Voter Participation: Reyna Walters-Morgan
Vice Chairs: Michelle Dietrick and James Zogby
Backup vice chair candidates (if my first choices do not have the votes): David Hogg, Shasti Conrad, Kalyn Free, Artie Blanco

Please let me know if you have any thoughts or concerns as we approach this pivotal election, and let's get to work.

David

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Prior Meeting reports:

10/9/23: Read here for my report on the Fall 2023 DNC meeting, and our priorities as we prepare for another showdown with Donald Trump and the GOP.

2/6/23: Read here for my report on the Winter 2023 DNC meeting, including thoughts on the new primary calendar, the DNC's relationship to president's re-election campaign, and what I believe progressive priorities should be in advance of the presidential election.

9/11/22: Read here for my report on the Summer 2022 DNC meeting, including reform efforts and a behind-the-scenes look at how the DNC works.

3/17/22: Read here for my update on the Spring 2022 DNC meeting and our ongoing reform efforts!

10/9/21: Read here for my update on the Fall 2021 DNC meeting

1/21/21: Read here for my update on the Winter 2021 DNC meeting

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May 2024 update:

Thank you to the California Democratic Executive Board for allowing me to to serve another four year term on the DNC! I was grateful to receive over 200 votes from the party's most committed organizers and elected officials from across the state, and will strive to do my best to fulfill the promises I made on the campaign: more and better organizing, more state and local decision-making, greater transparency, more small-dollar fundraising and a greater voice for California in national affairs.

I am excited to do my part to defeat Donald Trump and the rise of far-right totalitarianism, hold the Senate, win back the House, and push for a brighter future for California and the United States.

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November 2023 update:

DNC Election Update: I am running for re-election to the DNC! The election will take place in May at the California Democratic Party Executive Board meeting in San Diego.

I have worked hard in my first term to help push the DNC to do more of the medium and long term organizing that only the DNC can do, as well as transparency reforms to increase trust in the party and make it work more efficiently to elect more Democrats up and down the ballot.

Our top priority this year is, of course, to re-elect Joe Biden and every Democrat down ballot to stop the rise of far-right authoritarianism and push for more progressive legislation. But the DNC also needs to do a better job of organizing for the future to win in communities and geographic areas where we have been losing ground. We also need some basic transparency reforms to deliver more input from Democratic leaders and activists doing the hard work in our communities, and to work more closely with the state party orgs in all 57 states and territories—including California. California needs a stronger voice at the DNC so that our needs and concerns are also addressed.  These are the issues I have been working on at the DNC and will continue to prioritize in a second term:

• Pushing the DNC to pursue more medium- and long-term organizing rather than just parachuting into battlegrounds with last-minute advertising campaigns
• Democratizing the DNC by giving more input and decision-making power to the state parties rather than vesting them solely in Washington DC
• Reducing the number of appointees by the Chair
• Clean money and small dollar fundraising that treats Californians as partners rather than just a cash cow
• Re-implementing a 50-state strategy with deep canvassing that builds our party everywhere, especially red areas in California and across the country
• Transforming the DNC into a vehicle for organizing nationwide, especially in areas often ignored by other national Democratic organizations like the DCCC and DSCC
• Pushing other states to elect their DNC members in a more democratic fashion
• Running the DNC with transparency and respect for rules of engagement and debate

I have also been keeping Executive Board members and the public up to date on activities at the DNC with regular updates after every meeting. Please see the updates below:

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March 2020 update:

I am grateful to have been elected as one of the DNC members from California for the 2020-2024 term!

The election results can be viewed here. Thank you to all who participated in the election, and especially to everyone who took the time to have speak with me, hear my thoughts and let me know their priorities and concerns. I am deeply appreciative of all those who placed their confidence in me, and thank you so much for your votes, endorsements and support. And thank you also to the DNC members whose terms are coming to a close for their years of dedicated service.

My term on the DNC does not officially begin until the close of this year's Democratic National Convention, but I am already working on the issues I raised during the campaign: transparency, accountability, institutional reform and progressive policy. And I am looking forward to serving in earnest.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions or issues you may have, and I am excited to work with all of you to help improve our shared Democratic Party!

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My campaign message and platform: 

I'm David Atkins, and I'm running to be your next Democratic National Committee (DNC) member from California. I’m running because I believe the DNC must be more transparent and more democratic, and prioritize the values of grassroots Democrats instead of big donors and special interests.

I’m a grassroots activist with a history of progressive reform and a national voice. I want to use my skills, experience and platform to continue the progress we’ve already made to make the DNC more accountable to you—not special interests. I am running to be your voice on the DNC. As your elected DNC member, here’s what I want to accomplish:

Progressive Reform

In order to win elections everywhere, the DNC must be unafraid to be a progressive party that refuses to compromise on the issues in order to make donors and corporations feel more comfortable. As your DNC member, I promise you that I will always vote to end corporate donations, emphasize Medicare for All, fight to expand affordable housing, and make sure that the existential threat of climate change gets the attention it deserves from party leadership.

Transparency

Far too many Democrats have no idea what the DNC is, how it works, and how it makes decisions. This is harmful for two reasons: it erodes the trust that grassroots Democrats ought to have in our party leadership, and it prevents our party leadership from being accountable to its activists. As your representative on the DNC, I will work to increase transparency so that you can not only know what the DNC is doing in your name, but also so that you can know how to influence the process and make your voice heard.

Accountability

For too long, the DNC has been a body that simply rubberstamps the decisions made by the Chair and the inner circles of leadership. The climate change debate issue that came to a head at the 2019 summer meeting in San Francisco shows that this model is in desperate need of change. I will fight to reform the DNC to make sure that grassroots Democrats are guaranteed a seat at the table and have the tools to hold leadership accountable.

I’m proud to make the following reforms key to my campaign platform:

• Democratizing the DNC by giving more decision-making power to the state parties rather than vesting them solely in the Chair
• Reducing the number of appointees by the Chair
• Clean money and small dollar fundraising that treats Californians as partners rather than a fundraising piggybank
• Re-implementing a 50-state strategy that builds our party everywhere, especially red areas in California and across the country
• Transforming the DNC into a vehicle for organizing nationwide, especially in areas often ignored by other national Democratic organizations
• Pushing other states to elect their DNC members in a more democratic fashion
• Running the DNC with transparency and respect for rules of engagement and debate
• Emphasizing fully coordinated campaigns up and down the ballot, uniting our national, state and local efforts to help build our bench across the country

About me:

I’m running because I believe I have the experience, vision, and dedication needed to accomplish progressive change on the DNC.

I got involved in the fight to make the Democratic Party more progressive as a volunteer in Howard Dean’s presidential campaign in 2004. In the 15 years since, I haven’t stopped organizing to beat Republicans, support progressive causes, and hold the Democratic Party accountable to its values.

I currently serve as the Region 10 Director for the California Democratic Party, serving Assembly Districts 35, 37, 38 and 44. I’m also a Co-Chair of the CDP Credentials Committee, member of the Ad Hoc Committee on ADEMS, and the South Vice Chair of the Santa Barbara Democratic Central Committee. In addition, I'm a nationally recognized writer for a number of major publications covering both state and federal politics. You can read more about my background and qualifications here.

The DNC election will take place at the 2020 Spring Executive Board Meeting of the California Democratic Party in Visalia. I would love to count on your support and endorsement in this campaign--I'm looking forward to working on your behalf on the DNC, and would love to hear from you with your thoughts and perspectives in the days and weeks ahead!