So much is going politically right for Democrats these days.
Trump’s approval is down,
gas prices are up
and an unpopular war with Iran drags on.

But dysfunction and debt inside one of the party’s key institutions
— which is getting crushed in fund-raising by its Republican counterpart
— are creating rising anxiety for top Democrats.

The Democratic Party is so short on cash that leaders at its headquarters have undertaken a new gambit to mask the severity of the problems:
asking vendors not to send bills until after the midterm elections.

The bookkeeping maneuver, which was described by three people briefed on it,
is the latest sign of financial duress for the Democratic National Committee and its embattled leader
as money troubles threaten to undercut Democratic momentum with 100 days until the midterms.

At the center is Ken Martin,
the 53-year-old party chairman, who has found himself increasingly isolated,
gripped by the fear that he will lose his job
and relying on a vanishingly small circle of people he trusts,
according to interviews with more than two dozen Democrats, including current and former D.N.C. officials and members.
Most of them spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the party’s troubled state of affairs

Around the office and beyond, Mr. Martin has taken to making macabre jokes to colleagues about how long he will remain in his post,
even though his term does not end until 2029.

He is frustrated with the tarnished public image of a party that he plainly loves and has devoted his life to
— and that remains bullish about November given Trump’s low approval ratings.

But the Democratic Party and its allies are far behind Republicans when it comes to money.

Trump controls a $400 million super PAC,
and the Republican National Committee is sitting on nearly $130 million.

Mr. Martin’s D.N.C. is $2 million in debt.

Even supporters acknowledge Mr. Martin’s growing sense of paranoia.

He confronted the party’s finance director this spring over what he thought was a budding coup.

And before he met with the top congressional Democrats,
Senator Chuck Schumer of New York and Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York,
in mid-July,
assurances were given to an ally of Mr. Martin’s that the two party leaders did not plan to use the gathering to call for the chairman’s resignation.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/26/us/politics/ken-martin-dnc-democrats.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share