DNC Chair Ken Martin’s Georgia election strategy

Friday began the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day holiday weekend in Atlanta, but the political season in Georgia, and around the country, is already in full bloom. The Georgia Legislature got back to work earlier this week, and campaign rallies and forums for upcoming elections and special elections for Georgia governor, Lt. governor, one of the state’s two Senate seats, and Marjorie Greene’s seat representing Georgia’s 14th District are picking up. That includes the first gubernatorial forum of the year, which took place in Savannah last week and included all seven Democratic candidates.

It may be a midterm election year, but the stakes are high in the Peach State, according to Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chair Ken Martin.

Martin was in town on Friday for an MLK Day breakfast in Savanna Hall at Zoo Atlanta. The speakers at the event included union leaders, labor leaders, local preachers, and local politicians, such as U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath (GA-D) and Stockbridge Mayor Jayden Williams. When it was Martin’s turn to speak to the large crowd in attendance, the majority of which was Black, he thanked Senator Jon Ossoff, who was also in attendance, and other Georgia politicians, including Public Service Commissioner Alicia M. Johnson, for holding the line for the South’s most crucial battleground state.

Johnson is the first Black woman to hold a seat on the statewide Public Safety Commission. Martin told the crowd that Georgia has the opportunity to have a historic midterm election this year, but it will take a concerted effort long before the fourth quarter.

“We cannot keep showing up three months before an election and ask people to vote for us,” Martin said.

The Atlanta Voice sat down with Martin after he left the stage to talk about what he and the DNC are working on next. The District 14 special election will take place on Tuesday, March 10. When asked how important that election was to the Democratic mission heading into November 2026, Martin said it was very important.

“This is an excellent opportunity to pick up a Congressional District,” Martin said, who added that Democratic candidate Shawn Harris, one of three Democrats running in the 22-person election, was a good candidate. There are 17 Republicans running for the seat.

“If you look at last year as an example, we had our most historic off-year election in the history of the Democratic Party,” he said.

The DNC Chair said people need to look even deeper into the political success of 2026, like in Mississippi, where three Legislative seats were turned blue. “Every inch of ground we gain adds up,” he said. “We know if we carry that forward, we can put this [Georgia] seat in play. We have a good candidate in Shawn, and a district that’s ripe for the taking, and so I say you can’t ignore any race and you can’t ignore any part of this country.”

Martin said the DNC will make voter registration a priority this election cycle. Young voter turnout has fallen in recent elections. According to data from Your Voice Matters, only 23% of 18-29-year-olds registered to vote and cast ballots in the 2022 midterms. That was four years ago, and registration and turnout of the youngest age group (18-19) is even lower.

“Young voters are the largest voting bloc in the country, but they vote at such low numbers,” Martin, a native Minnesotan and father of two sons, ages 23 and 21, said. “That is part of what our voter registration push is really focusing on, registering young voters, in particular young Black and brown voters.”

Martin said he understands why young people are becoming more disenchanted with voting. “I sort of get it, they’re looking around at what is happening right now, they don’t see anything good happening in politics. They don’t see anything passing that is going to make a difference in their lives.”

He said there is a sense of despair in the air.

“We have to give young people some hope,” Martin said. “We have to give them hope that there are better days ahead.”

The DNC recently announced that it is launching a new voter registration effort, When We Count. The youth fellowship will aim to train hundreds of young people to register new voters, hopefully closing the voter registration gap that has grown over the past four years.

Before he left the stage on Friday, Martin repeated a favorite line and said it again before he was done with this interview.

He said with a bright smile, “When we organize everywhere, we can win anywhere.”