Orange County state Sen. James Skoufis announced Thursday he ended his campaign to be the next leader of the national Democratic party.

The DNC held the first of four officer forums, and candidates for top leadership roles laid out their platforms and strategies for the party.

New York state Sen. James Skoufis endorsed Ken Martin because he respects his "vision, charisma, guts, and undefeated record in statewide races."

Candidates hoping to lead the DNC in 2025 are ducking ideological infighting, as competitors showcase their polite differences and party relationships

After a long career in city, state and federal government, Martin O’Malley is on the campaign trail again, vying to lead the Democratic Party at a pivotal time.

Plus: The race for the next Democratic party chair. President Joe Biden spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, amid cease-fire talks.

The retired police captain and former registered Republican won the job promising to rein in crime and is now the most prominent Democratic mayor offering cooperation with Trump on his mass deportation efforts. He has also suggested he might leave the Democratic Party.

"It's not a policy vision for the governor," LeMahieu said on WISN's 'UPFRONT' which is produced in partnership with WisPolitics.com. "But a lot of the requests, in education, K-12 is way too much. He said $4 billion was almost too much for him in education, so we'll see what he puts in there."

There's little discussion of how to fix the party's biggest problems. But one group gets a big share of the blame.

The Democrats who entered the DNC chair race first remain ahead in public DNC member commitments; the winner needs a majority of their 448 votes when the party meets outside DC on Feb. 1.

John Fund is National Review’s national-affairs reporter. The debate over his suitability to run the Pentagon has just begun. The unsettled political situation in Korea poses a possible danger ...