DETROIT — As 2025 begins, the Democratic Party faces several looming questions about its future.

Among them: how to recover from losing the White House and the Senate in an election in which Democrats lost ground among nearly every demographic group; who will lead its national party apparatus; and how it will handle President-elect Donald Trump's second term.

But as Trump prepares to retake the White House on Monday, Democratic leaders have highlighted other results that suggest November's losses were not fatal.

For example, many Democrats who were trailing down the ballot outperformed the front-runners in closely contested races, and the party managed to win a seat in the House of Representatives. That narrows the Republican majority's advantage in an already tight majority that struggled with infighting during the last Congress.

Democrats also had record fundraising last year and pointed to years of behind-the-scenes investments in voter data and campaign resources that they said created a more coordinated and robust party infrastructure for future election cycles.

“The DNC has never invested more resources in strengthening our state parties than in this DNC,” DNC Chairman Jamie Harrison said Thursday. “So as a former state party chair, former state Party Vice Chairman and now Democratic National Committee Chairman, I am extremely proud to pass on this mantle to the next generation of Democratic national leadership.”

Harrison is not seeking re-election as DNC leader, so the current 448 DNC members will elect a new chairman and other leadership positions at the party's winter meeting on February 1.

What will new leadership bring?

At a live forum in Detroit on Thursday, candidates seeking help running the Democratic National Committee largely agreed on the Democratic path forward for returning to power and the trust of voters who stayed home or backed Trump: a year-round organizing effort to deliver for the country more resources and local parties, and spread the Democratic message beyond traditional and friendly media sources.

Without control of the White House or both chambers of Congress, the new Democratic National Committee chair is likely to become one of many national faces who will help shape the party's message ahead of the next presidential election rather than as an outsize influencer. A single person determines the outcome of the election. A path forward for Democrats.

Two leading candidates for chairman, Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party Chairman Ken Martin and Wisconsin Democratic Party Chairman Ben Wikler, offered their thoughts on how the position should fit into the larger party ecosystem.

Martin said he believes Democrats should continue to attack Trump and position themselves as a more authentic representation of the party's working-class voters than Wikler.

He also noted that the party has a group of Democratic elected officials who are the most effective communicators of what the party stands for.

"I mean, who better than our mayor to talk about public safety? Who better than the county commissioners to talk about disaster relief? Who better than our governor to talk about education funding and other issues at the state level?" he said. . “So we have to tap into the rich, rich, rich diversity of elected officials across the country who are actually living the values ​​of our party right now.”

Wikler said Democrats should voice their opposition if Trump adopts unpopular policies in areas such as health care, education and social security. He also praised the organizational victory in purple Wisconsin compared with Martin's more reliable blue Minnesota, saying that's the kind of experience it takes to lead the party.

“The candidate is the one who delivers the message to the voters,” Wikler said. "The chair of the Democratic National Committee needs to inspire volunteers, needs to inspire people to run for office, needs to inspire people to donate, needs to inspire people, and then we need to mobilize, and that means developing a strategy in every state."

When to fight and when to seek common ground

This isn’t just about national party leaders trying to decide whether Trump’s second term should be met with wholesale opposition, or trying to find possible common ground.

Members of Congress are also divided, particularly around Republican policy priorities for illegal immigration.

A Republican measure, also known as the Laken-Riley Act, would direct federal officials to detain and deport undocumented immigrants who are charged, arrested or convicted of burglary, burglary, theft or shoplifting, The bill, also known as the Laken Riley Act, passed a key procedural vote on Friday. Senate.

Ten Democrats joined the Republican majority in advancing the bill, while 48 House Democrats voted to pass the House version of the bill earlier this month.

There are also Democratic elected officials who will be on the ballot in 2026, or who may be running for the party's presidential nomination in 2028, who find themselves in a balancing act of showing a willingness to work with Republicans while trying to Defend the party’s ideals.

"Now I don't want to pretend that we're always going to agree, but I'm always going to be looking for collaboration first," Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said Wednesday during a speech at the Detroit Auto Show. "I'm not going to go to fight people. I'm not going to back down from them because I'm not here to play games. I have a job to do."

As Democrats search for new leadership and struggle to determine their direction after leaving office, the Republican Party's unity around Trump and his vision for governing stands in stark contrast.

Republican National Committee members voted this week to keep Trump's nominee, Michael Whatley, as chairman of the Republican National Committee, while celebrating the party's success in melding with Trump's campaign and political views.