DNC chair downplays socialist-moderate rift as Mamdani's rise has some Dems rattled

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Zohran Mamdani appears to be on the verge of becoming the next mayor of the nation's most populous city.

And a victory by the 34-year-old democratic socialist state lawmaker from New York City would capsulize the rise of the far left in the Democratic Party.

While plenty of Democrats are fearful of the political consequences and how it would fuel Republican efforts to make a Mayor Mamdani the face of a Democratic Party aiming to usher in socialism, Ken Martin isn't concerned.

"What it shows is the great breadth of our party," the chair of the Democratic National Committee said in a one-on-one interview with Fox News Digital this week in Philadelphia as he crisscrossed the 2025 campaign trail.

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A likely Mamdani win in New York City, where he holds a double-digit lead in the polls, may be coupled with potential victories by moderate Democrats Rep. Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey and former Rep. Abigail Spanberger of Virginia in the only two states this year to hold gubernatorial elections.

"We have conservative Democrats, we have centrist Democrats, we have progressives and we have leftists. And I've always said that you win elections through addition, not subtraction. You win by bringing people into your coalition and growing your party," Martin touted.

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Martin acknowledged that Democrats "don't agree on everything. There's a lot of different ideas on how to accomplish our goals, but we're unified around those goals. We're unified around making sure that people's lives are more affordable and that we can create an economy that works for everyone in this country. We're unified in stopping Donald Trump in his authoritarian margin, his shredding of our Constitution."

As Democrats work to escape the political wilderness after last year's stunning election setbacks, when the party lost control of the White House and Senate and failed to win back the House majority, Republicans portray their rivals as a leaderless party being held hostage by the far left.

But Martin spotlighted his party's diversity, saying, "Whether you're a far-left Democrat or a conservative Democrat, or anything in between, everyone's welcome into this big tent party of ours."

The Republican National Committee took issue with the Democrats' big tent.

"Ken Martin's so-called 'big tent' Party includes communists, antisemites, and illegal aliens, while apparently the only people who aren't welcome are hardworking American families. The inmates are now running the asylum in the Democrat Party, which is why the DNC is broke and proudly backing a communist for mayor of New York City," RNC national press secretary Kiersten Pels claimed in a statement to Fox News Digital.

Martin, pointing to the Republican Party, argued that they "basically have one ideology and do not allow for any dissent."

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Martin was interviewed a few days after a new center-left group named "Welcome," in their inaugural report, argued that left-leaning ideas and rhetoric have badly weakened the Democratic Party. And the group urged Democrats to jettison some of the party's progressive language about race and LGBTQ issues. The news was first reported by Semafor.

Asked for his take, Martin said he had yet to read the report, but he did emphasize that "the Democratic Party can walk and chew gum at the same time."

"We can both focus on a core economic message that gives people in this country a sense that we're going to fight for their economic future, that they'll have an opportunity to get ahead... and also, at the same time, stand up and fight for our values. Make sure that no one gets left behind. Make sure that... people who are being harassed or bullied or pushed out of the conversation are protected."

"We are the Democratic Party. We've fought for the working class and the poor, and we've always fought against bigotry and discrimination, and we'll continue to do both," he pledged.