Gloom and pessimism take hold of Democrats as they prepare to elect party leader

Democrats are harboring strong feelings of stress and gloom as the new year begins. And many are questioning whether their party’s commitment to diverse candidates – especially women – may lead to further political struggles as Donald Trump is sworn in for a second presidency on 20 January.

A recent poll from the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds that a significant number of Democrats believe that it may be decades before the United States will get its first female president.

Specifically, about four in 10 Democrats said it’s “not very likely” or “not at all likely” that a woman will be elected to the nation’s highest office in their lifetime, according to the poll. That’s compared with about one-quarter of Republicans who feel the same.

While despondency is hardly unique for a political party after a high-profile loss, that finding reflects the deep depression that has set in among Democrats about the country and their party after Trump soundly defeated Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee.

Such concerns may already be shaping the Democratic National Committee (DNC)’s search for a new leader. For the first time in more than a decade, the top candidates for the job are all white men.

And looking further ahead, the party’s pessimism is influencing early conversations about the contest for the 2028 presidential nomination.

“We knew men hated women. The last election showed, for some of us, that we underestimated the extent to which some women hate other women,” said Gilda Cobb-Hunter, a Democratic state representative from South Carolina and former president of the National Black Caucus of State Legislators. “America is as racist and misogynist as it has always been.”

Democrats have nominated a woman to run against Trump in two of the past three presidential elections. In both cases, Trump won decisively, over Hillary Clinton in 2016 and Harris in 2024. The Democrat who unseated Trump – Joe Biden in 2020 – was a white man.

Adding insult to injury for many Democrats was the long list of allegations brought by women against Trump. He was found liable in civil court for sexual abuse and convicted of felonies in a hush-money case involving an adult film star. He was once caught on tape bragging that he could grab women’s genitals without consent because he was a celebrity.

Still, Trump narrowly carried every key swing state in November. Harris had the advantage among women, winning 53% to Trump’s 46%, but that margin was somewhat narrower than Biden’s. Trump’s support held steady among white women, with slightly more than half supporting him, similar to 2020.

Most Democrats – about seven in 10 – believe 2025 will be a worse year for the US than 2024, the AP-NORC poll found. That’s compared with about four in 10 US adults who feel that way.

The poll also found that Democrats were less likely to be feeling “happy” or “hopeful” about 2025 for them personally. Instead, about four in 10 Democrats said “stressed” described their feelings extremely or very well, while roughly one-third of Democrats said this about the word “gloomy.”

Meanwhile, majorities of Republicans and conservatives said “happy” described how they feel about 2025. A similar share said the same about “hopeful”.

“It’s so dark out there right now,” said poll respondent Rachel Wineman, a 41-year-old Democrat from Murrieta, California. “My family and I are circling the wagons, trying to keep our heads down and survive.”

There are early signs that this loss has triggered questions about a core commitment of the modern-day Democratic party to support minority groups, including women, while pushing diverse candidates into positions of power.

Some Democratic leaders fear that Trump’s strong success with working-class white voters – and his modest gains among Blacks and Latinos in the election – may signal a political realignment that could transform the political landscape for years to come unless the party changes its approach.

The vote for a DNC chairperson offers the first clue as to the direction of the party during the second Trump administration. The election is three weeks away, and the leading candidates are Ben Wikler, the Wisconsin state party chairperson, and Ken Martin, the Minnesota state party chairperson.

Either would be the first white man in the job since Virginia US senator Tim Kaine left the position in 2011, five years before he was Clinton’s running mate.

Martin and Wikler are considered the strong frontrunners in a field of eight candidates who qualified for a DNC candidate forum Saturday, the first of four such gatherings before the 1 February election at the committee’s winter meeting in suburban Washington.

Two candidates are women: former presidential contender Marianne Williamson and Quintessa Hathaway, a former congressional candidate, educator and civil rights activist.

The outgoing chair, Jaime Harrison, who is Black, said in a statement that the committee will be well positioned to compete in future elections and push back against Trump’s policies.

“Democrats stand ready to hold him accountable,” Harrison said. “We will continue to invest in all 50 states to build power from the local level on up and elect Democrats across the country.”