U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams on Saturday withdrew her bid for a Democratic National Committee post that would have given her an influential role in shaping the strategy to counter President Donald Trump.
Williams must now return home and decide whether she wants to engage in a messy internal fight to remain the leader of the Democratic Party of Georgia. Had she won the national post, she would have stepped down to take the new role.
Williams, the third-term Atlanta Democrat, faced stiff competition for the role as vice chair of civic engagement and voter participation for the DNC. After receiving scant support from party insiders in two rounds of voting, Williams took her name out of contention and threw her support behind U.S. Rep. Joyce Beatty of Ohio.
Earlier in the day, the DNC selected Ken Martin, longtime leader of Minnesota’s Democratic Party organization, to be the next chairman.
Williams has been under intense pressure by U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff and other Democratic officials to step aside from her unpaid, volunteer role as chair of the Democratic Party of Georgia after Trump recaptured the state in November. Party leaders are weighing a rule change that would make the party chair a paid full-time position.
She mounted her DNC campaign a month ago, pledging to bring the voter rights knowhow and grassroots lessons she gleaned from decades of activism in Georgia to help deflated Democrats respond to Trump’s comeback win.
Nasty internal Democratic finger-pointing has followed Trump’s victory in Georgia, one of seven battleground states the Republican swept in November on his way to a second term.
Credit: Jacquelyn Martin/AP
Credit: Jacquelyn Martin/AP
Williams was elected the first Black woman to lead the state party in January 2019 after pledging to target voters often ignored by politicians, keep up an embrace of liberal policies and continue deploying sharp-edged tactics to battle the GOP.
After U.S. Rep. John Lewis died in 2020, Williams won the overwhelming support of party insiders to serve as his replacement on the ballot in a hurried procedural vote that was forced by a pressing legal deadline.
When she easily won the deep-blue district in 2020, Williams maintained her dual role as U.S. House member and party chairwoman with the blessing of Ossoff and other officials. She breezed to another four-year term as party leader in 2023.
But after Trump’s win, a range of party figures demanded a leadership change – including Ossoff, who is one of the top GOP targets in the 2026 midterm.
Some of the pushback accuses Williams and her leadership team of mismanaging resources. Others say her role in Congress limits her ability to raise party funds because of federal restrictions.
Ossoff privately pressured her to step down to avoid a messy internal fight, a demand that quickly became public when Williams relayed to friends that the first-term Democrat told her he lacked confidence in her leadership.
Several party leaders have defended her. Savannah Mayor Van Johnson acknowledged frustration over Trump’s win but praised Williams’ “steady leadership,” noting Georgia Democrats outperformed other battleground states.
Williams, for her part, has pointed to the party’s statewide wins in 2020, 2021 and 2022 even as she acknowledged Democrats needed a “course correction” after Trump improved his level of support in more than 130 of Georgia’s 159 counties.
About the Author
Keep Reading
The Latest
Featured
