DNC apologizes as unfinished 2024 losses review raises doubts

unfinished outside – The Democratic National Committee released an outside review of 2024 campaign losses that it says was delivered unfinished, missing major sections and containing unverified claims. DNC Chair Ken Martin apologized after shelving it late last year, while the dra

Chicago’s glow has long since faded, and yet the party is still arguing over what happened after the votes were counted in 2024.

For the first time. the Democratic National Committee has published an outside review of 2024 campaign losses that the party says arrived late and “unfinished. ” and that it describes as filled with “unverified claims about problems and solutions.” DNC Chairman Ken Martin. under pressure inside the party for holding the report back after he received it late last year. apologized for the delay in a Substack post that accompanied the document.

“When I received the report late last year, it wasn’t ready for primetime,” Martin wrote. “Not even close. And because no source material was provided, fixing it would have meant starting over, from the beginning – every conversation, every interview, every data set.”

The report itself is a 192-page draft written by Paul Rivera. a Democratic consultant unaffiliated with the Biden and Harris campaigns. It is missing key sections. including a conclusion. an executive summary. and even “Notes for the reader.” The tentative title—“BUILD TO WIN. BUILD TO LAST”—is included alongside what the DNC says are shaky foundational assumptions.

In multiple annotations throughout the draft. the party asserts that the report’s framing was built on incomplete or uncertain data. It also includes a disclaimer stating that the party “was not provided with the underlying sourcing. interviews. or supporting data for many of the assertions contained herein and therefore cannot independently verify the claims presented.”.

Alongside the gaps and uncertainty. the document contains a practical invitation to readers: “While we extensively fact-check DNC After Action Report in order to ensure accuracy. it is always possible that mistakes remain. ” the draft reads. It adds that readers who notice factual errors can reach out to use at XXXX@dnc.org. with mistakes to be corrected “as quickly as possible. ” and with changes “noted in the text.” It also includes a line that “All numbers and figures are accurate as of xx/xx/2025.”.

The DNC says the unfinished autopsy was delivered to Martin in late 2025. That matters because it landed as the party was celebrating electoral wins—major victories in Virginia and New Jersey and across the country in November municipal elections. The report describes a period of what Martin characterized as electoral overperformance continuing since Trump returned to the White House last January.

Martin’s Substack apology also explained why he originally decided not to focus on the 2024 loss review. “In short, I didn’t want to create a distraction,” he wrote. “Ironically, in doing so, I ended up creating an even bigger distraction. And for that, I sincerely apologize.”

In defending the work he says the national party has been doing during his year and a half as chair. Martin pointed to investments he says were directed toward state parties. He also reiterated his view that the Democratic Party brand needs fixing and that its infrastructure must be updated for year-round organizing.

But the draft’s own structure—and the DNC’s stated inability to verify large parts of it—has now become part of the political story. The document’s limitations are not confined to what is missing on the page. The party’s annotations repeatedly say its foundational data is not as solid as the report’s confident language implies.

At least one theme in the autopsy comes through sharply: it says that since former President Obama’s first election in 2008. the Democratic Party has “vacillated between stagnation and retrogression.” In a draft where former President Jow Biden’s name appears only a handful of times. the author’s key takeaway—described in the material as the White House not positioning or preparing former Vice President Kamala Harris to help Biden govern—still lands as a central concern.

None of this arrives in a vacuum for Democrats. It comes while the party is pointing to victories in Virginia, New Jersey, and November municipal elections. Yet the release of a report that the party describes as incomplete and not fully verifiable gives new weight to the original impulse that sparked the request for answers in the first place: not just what went wrong in 2024. but whether the party is willing—or able—to confront the evidence cleanly.

With the DNC now publishing a draft it says lacked underlying sourcing and major sections, the questions shift. The debate is no longer only about the outcomes of 2024. It is also about how Democrats plan to learn from what happened—when the record itself arrives with omissions. tentative claims. and gaps that Martin says could not be fixed without starting over from the beginning.

Democratic National Committee DNC Ken Martin 2024 campaign losses Paul Rivera BUILD TO WIN. BUILD TO LAST unfinished report Kamala Harris Biden Obama Virginia election New Jersey election municipal elections Substack