Contenders to Lead the Democratic Party Scramble to Show Momentum

A week before the Democratic National Committee chooses its next leader, the two leading candidates are racing to show their momentum in the secretive race by announcing a series of public endorsements.

The contender seen as a modest underdog, Ben Wikler, the chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, has been scrambling to show that he can overcome Ken Martin, the chairman of the Minnesota Democrats, who is viewed as the favorite.

Since Tuesday, Mr. Wikler has proclaimed that he has support from eight governors, two congressmen and a liberal business group, in addition to four major labor unions that are influential in the party.

But he has the public endorsements of just 29 of the voters who matter — the 448 members of the Democratic National Committee who will gather in Washington on Feb. 1 to elect their new leader. That is a fraction of the public support for Mr. Martin, who has the backing of 140 D.N.C. members. A third candidate, former Gov. Martin O’Malley of Maryland, has announced 12 public endorsements.

All three men are claiming to have more private commitments of support.

Mr. Martin said on Tuesday that he counted 200 D.N.C. members among his backers. Mr. Wikler, who had not revealed his level of support until this week, wrote on social media on Friday that 151 D.N.C. members were now supporting him. And Mr. O’Malley is counting 137 D.N.C. members as private supporters, according to Chris Taylor, a spokesman.

None of the claims, of course, can be independently verified — and, in fact, each candidate is now trumpeting a number of private commitments that is far higher than the actual number of voting D.N.C. members.

Still, they are undeterred.

“We’re now virtually tied with Chair Martin heading into the final week,” wrote Mr. Wikler, who announced endorsements from prominent governors, including Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan and Kathy Hochul of New York, this week. “Wind at our back. Clear path to victory.”

In a secret-ballot election, voting commitments are the equivalent of Monopoly money, fungible and subject to change up until the moment when voting takes place. Eight years ago, Keith Ellison’s internal estimate of support in the race for D.N.C. chair suggested that he was winning, only for him to fall short as Tom Perez prevailed on a second ballot.

And while the party leader ostensibly holds a national post with a significant media platform, the voters making the decision are a relatively small and insular group of Democratic officials who are often motivated by their own parochial concerns.

The race has a few other candidates.

Faiz Shakir, a former campaign manager for Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont who entered the contest last week, has just one public endorsement — himself. Several other contenders have not demonstrated any public support.

One would-be candidate, Robert Houton, who ran a long-shot campaign for Senate in Maryland last year, was barred from the party’s forums by Jaime Harrison, the departing D.N.C. chairman. Mr. Harrison determined that Mr. Houton had made a series of positive statements about President Trump, as well as contributions to Republican candidates.

“These statements raise serious doubts as to whether you are a bona fide Democrat whose record of public service, accomplishments, public writings and/or public statements affirmatively demonstrate that you are faithful to the interests, welfare and success of the Democratic Party,” Mr. Harrison, who is not seeking re-election, wrote in a letter on Wednesday to Mr. Houton.

As the election nears, D.N.C. members are being inundated with phone calls from candidates for party positions — including vice chair, party secretary and party treasurer — and their supporters.

“My phone is nonstop ringing from all these candidates and their supporters,” said Christine Pelosi, an undecided D.N.C. member from California and a daughter of Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, the former House speaker. “Most of my California colleagues like Ken, and most of the communications I get are from people who like Ben.”

Though Mr. O’Malley is well behind the front-runners, he and his supporters could play a significant role if no candidate receives the 225 votes necessary to win on the party’s first ballot.

The fluid nature of the intraparty alliances was illustrated on Friday when Mr. Martin announced on social media that he had endorsements from a slate of D.N.C. members, including Brenda Knapp of Alaska. Hours later, Ms. Knapp endorsed Mr. Wikler. Mr. Martin deleted the post.

“That was a mistake and I have no hard feelings,” Ms. Knapp said. “There was just a miscommunication.”

On Friday, Mr. Wikler also announced the support of several D.N.C. members including Dan Hynes, a former elected Illinois state comptroller. Mr. Hynes is perhaps best known for placing second to Barack Obama in their state’s Senate primary race in 2004, but in the 2016 presidential campaign, he was the lone Democratic superdelegate who pledged support for Mr. O’Malley.