Live updates: Trump tariffs and breaking presidential transition news

Live updates: Trump tariffs and breaking presidential transition news

Wisconsin Democratic Party Chairman Ben Wikler announced Sunday that he is joining the race for national party leadership.

Wikler is the fourth person to run to be the next chairman of the Democratic National Committee – a role that would oversee the party’s rebuilding as it continues to struggle under President-elect Donald Trump’s victory and taking control of both chambers of Congress suffers at the hands of the Republicans.

“This is a time for Democrats to come together to learn what we need to do and change and to start winning elections up and down the next four years,” Wikler said.

Wikler joins a competitive – and likely growing – field that includes New York State Senator James Skoufis, former Maryland Governor and Social Security Administrator Martin O’Malley and Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party Chairman, Ken Martin, include.

Democrats will vote on Feb. 1 to choose the party leader, who will also oversee the selection of the 2028 primary calendar, which was reconfigured before 2020 to capitalize on President Joe Biden’s strengths.

Since Wikler’s election as Wisconsin Democrats chairman in 2019, the party has enjoyed several key Democratic victories, including retaining the governorship and retaining a key Senate seat despite Vice President Kamala Harris’ 2024 loss in the state. Although Trump defeated Wisconsin earlier this month, he won by 0.8% – the narrowest margin of any swing state.

More context: Democratic activists involved in key elections told CNN they don’t know how to figure out what voters who went for Trump want or how to appeal to them.

In CNN’s conversations with two dozen senior Democratic officials and elected officials since Election Day, the fear is not only that no one knows the answer to the question, but also that they don’t even know what the question is at this point.

Read more about conversations among Democrats about their path forward Here.

CNN’s Antoinette Radford contributed to this report.

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