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DNC autopsy

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Build to Win. Build to Last.
PresentedMay 2026; 3 months ago (2026-05)
Commissioned byKen Martin
Official website
Archived May 21, 2026, at the Wayback Machine

The "Build to Win. Build to Last." report, colloquially known as the DNC autopsy, released in May 2026, is a report created by Paul Rivera that details possible reasons for Vice President Kamala Harris's loss in the 2024 United States presidential election, at the request of Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chair Ken Martin. The report was released in 2026 following widespread speculation of its contents. The autopsy received negative reception due to its lack of content and delayed delivery.

Background

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Creation

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The report was ordered by DNC Chair Ken Martin.

Following the 2024 presidential election, Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chairman Ken Martin selected Paul Rivera to create the report.[1][2][3] According to Martin, Rivera was not paid.[1]

Release

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In late April 2026, Ken Martin went on Pod Save America to defend not releasing the report. The interview went viral.[4]

In early May 2026, Harris told donors she believed the Democratic National Committee should release the report.[5][6]

CNN was the first outlet to release the report on May 21, 2026.[7][1] The DNC made it public only after it had been published by CNN.[8] With the release, DNC Chair Ken Martin stated the report "wasn't ready for primetime" when he initially received it. He said the project would have had to be redone.[7]

After last November's massive Democratic wins, I didn't want to create a distraction, but by not putting the report out, I ended up creating an even bigger distraction. For that, I sincerely apologize. For full transparency, I am releasing the report as we received it, in its entirety, unedited and unabridged. It does not meet my standards, and it won't meet your standards, but I am doing this because people need to be able to trust the Democratic Party and trust our word.

— Ken Martin

According to Martin, after the release, Paul Rivera was no longer associated with the DNC.[7]

Contents

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Structure

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The paper begins with an introduction and "Why now" behind its creation. The methodology section states the report is based on "a range of publicly and commercially available data," as well as information collected from over 300 interviews of organizations and individuals. An electoral landscape section recaps general and midterm elections from 2008 up to 2024. A heavily notated "What Happened" section analyzed governors' races, Senate races, and uncited demographic data. It also provided a lessons section from state campaigns. Other sections discussed communication, research and strategy, organizing, and technology and data. Two sections covered fundraising and spending.[9]

Report's arguments

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The six lessons for the DNC following the 2024 election according to Paul Rivera.[10]

Despite not having a formal conclusion or summary, Rivera provided some overarching views of why Democrats lost in 2024.

The report stated the economy was poor and Harris lost the economic argument. The term "Bidenomics" also received criticism for linking the Democratic president's name to "economic anxiety."[11][12] According to Rivera, pollsters wanted Harris to reject the status quo.[13] The autopsy also said Harris was not well prepared to take over the campaign.[14][15][16]

In Rivera's view, Democrats assumed Trump was unacceptable and that undecided voters "would automatically vote Democratic."[17][16]

In one section, the report suggested the GOP won because of social media reach.[18][19]

Rivera suggested future campaigns could spend $300 million on on-the-ground organizing. The report argued organizations like Turning Point USA are "always on," not activated during an election season,[20] and Democrats should follow this strategy. Rivera also said that door-knocking was more effective than phone calls and texts.[21][22] Labor unions were also seen as key to turnout.[23] The autopsy also claimed organizing largely did not start before Labor Day and that earlier messaging may have been impactful, although Rivera notes the candidate switch made this difficult.[24]

The report also called for more investment in state parties.[25][12][22]

The upcoming 2030 census and reapportionment will pose a large challenge to the Democratic Party, according to the report.[26] Rivera argues Democrats need to "meet the moment"[27] and stop "tinkering at the edges" or "history will leave us behind."[26]

Unincluded material

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Analysis of House elections is not present in the "What Happened" section. The report also did not address several key issues in the 2024 election. Israel and Gaza's effect on the election is not mentioned. According to Politico, the autopsy made "sparse" mentions of Biden's choice to remain in the race until June 2024.[28] Joe Biden's age does not appear in the report.[29] The autopsy also does not directly address Joe Biden's decision to run for reelection.[16]

The paper lacks an executive summary and a conclusion. A "Notes for the reader" section is marked as incomplete. The paper resembled a draft.[30] There are no appendices, interviews, or sources provided with the report.[31] Some sources are listed in footnotes but do not appear in inline citations. Many of the claims made by the report are disputed by the DNC in the form of red annotations.

Annotations

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At the beginning of every page a disclaimer reads:

Disclaimer: This document reflects the views of the author, not the DNC. The DNC was not provided with the underlying sourcing, interviews, or supporting data for many of the assertions contained herein and therefore cannot independently verify the claims presented.

Many annotations speculate the source of unsourced content in the report. Multiple unsourced claims may come from public FEC data.[citation needed]

The section covering North Carolina races received particular criticism for inaccuracies.[32]

Alleged missing chapter

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In August 2026, Rivera released an allegedly unincluded chapter of the report that he claimed the DNC removed before its release.[33] Ken Martin disputed that the chapter was submitted to the DNC and said, "If we had this in May, we would have released it with the rest of the report."[33][34] The "missing chapter" addressed some of the issues the report was criticized for not including, such as Biden's decision to run for reelection, loss of support among minority voters, and criticisms of purportedly out-of-touch consultants and strategists.[33][35] At the same as releasing the unincluded chapter, Rivera additionally released his own unofficial 564-page report on the election, titled "Blue By 2032".[33][36]

Reception

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Both pro-Palestine and pro-Israel groups responded negatively to the lack of coverage of the Gaza War in the report. The IMEU Project demanded Martin release information showing "Biden's support for Israel to be a net-negative for Democrats in 2024," which they allege Rivera said the DNC had found.[30][37] Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed criticized the report for not "[learning] from our mistakes." Former DNC vicechair David Hogg stated he had told Rivera that "we need to acknowledge the role that Gaza played in us losing younger voters." Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said the blindspot was "notable."[38] Jewish Democratic Council of America CEO Halie Soifer said she was surprised to find zero mention of "Jews" in the paper.[37]

Third Way President Jon Cowan asserted his view that the unfinished report called for Democrats to move more to the center[28] and that Democrats needed "combative centrism that rejects identity politics, reclaims the vital center, and positions the party as fighters on the economic issues that matter most to voters."[39][independent source needed]

Climate Defiance criticized the report for including only one mention of climate change.[40]

David Hogg[41] and Dan Pfeiffer[30] called for Martin's resignation following the release of the report.[42]

See also

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References

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  1. 1 2 3 Korecki, Natasha; Kamisar, Ben (May 21, 2026). "DNC releases 2024 autopsy, with chair apologizing for 'creating an even bigger distraction'". NBC News. Retrieved May 21, 2026.
  2. ↑ Thompson, Alex; Otterbein, Holly (May 21, 2026). "Democrats finally release 2024 election autopsy after criticism". Axios. Retrieved May 21, 2026.
  3. ↑ Shephard, Alex (May 22, 2026). "Gaza Wasn't the Biggest Omission in the Democrats' 2024 Autopsy". The New Republic. Retrieved August 3, 2026.
  4. ↑ Dovere, Edward-Isaac (May 21, 2026). "Autopsy of the autopsy: How the DNC's 2024 post-mortem turned into a crisis". CNN. Retrieved May 21, 2026.
  5. ↑ Allen, Jonathan; Korecki, Natasha (May 7, 2026). "Kamala Harris wants the DNC to release its autopsy report on the 2024 campaign". NBC News. Retrieved May 21, 2026.
  6. ↑ "How Kamala Harris is threading the needle on the DNC autopsy saga: From the Politics Desk". NBC News. May 7, 2026. Retrieved May 21, 2026.
  7. 1 2 3 Merchant, Nomaan (May 21, 2026). "Read the DNC's 2024 autopsy obtained by CNN". CNN. Retrieved May 21, 2026.
  8. ↑ Kashinsky, Lisa; Howard, Andrew (May 21, 2026). "'The report's so stupid': The DNC 2024 autopsy is roiling Democrats". POLITICO. Retrieved August 3, 2026.
  9. ↑ Build to Win. Build to Last.
  10. ↑ Build to Win. Build to Last., p. 31.
  11. ↑ Build to Win. Build to Last., p. 62.
  12. 1 2 Downs, Garrett (May 21, 2026). "DNC releases 2024 election autopsy, party chair slams it". CNBC. Retrieved May 26, 2026.
  13. ↑ Build to Win. Build to Last., p. 72.
  14. ↑ Build to Win. Build to Last., p. 71.
  15. ↑ Pittock, Drew. "Cory Booker says Democrats are 'desperate' for fresh leaders". USA TODAY. Retrieved May 26, 2026.
  16. 1 2 3 "Takeaways from the Democratic National Committee's long-awaited autopsy report on 2024 election". AP News. May 21, 2026. Retrieved May 26, 2026.
  17. ↑ Build to Win. Build to Last., p. 29.
  18. ↑ Build to Win. Build to Last., p. 102.
  19. ↑ Blake, Aaron (May 21, 2026). "Takeaways from the DNC autopsy | CNN Politics". CNN. Retrieved May 27, 2026.
  20. ↑ Goldberg, Michelle (May 22, 2026). "Opinion | The Agony Around the Democrats' Mysterious, Ridiculous Autopsy". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 27, 2026.
  21. ↑ Build to Win. Build to Last., pp. 78–80.
  22. 1 2 "DNC Report Shows What Went Wrong in 2024—Now 2028 Is the Question". Newsweek. May 21, 2026.
  23. ↑ Build to Win. Build to Last., pp. 39, 85.
  24. ↑ Build to Win. Build to Last., p. 36.
  25. ↑ Build to Win. Build to Last., p. 97.
  26. 1 2 Build to Win. Build to Last., pp. 19–20.
  27. ↑ Goldberg, Michelle (May 26, 2026). "The agony around the Democrats' mysterious, ridiculous autopsy". The Seattle Times. Retrieved May 26, 2026.
  28. 1 2 Kashinsky, Lisa; Howard, Andrew (May 21, 2026). "'The report's so stupid': The DNC 2024 autopsy is roiling Democrats". Politico. Retrieved May 22, 2026.
  29. ↑ Lerer, Lise; Balk, Tim (May 23, 2026). "In Dissecting 2024 Loss, Democrats' Report Ignores Gaza, Biden's Age". The New York Times. Retrieved May 26, 2026.
  30. 1 2 3 "'A complete and total failure': Calls grow for DNC chair Ken Martin to resign over 2024 autopsy". NBC News. Retrieved May 21, 2026.
  31. ↑ Peoples, Steve (May 21, 2026). "Read the DNC's full post-election autopsy for the 2024 campaign". Associated Press. Retrieved May 21, 2026 – via PBS News.
  32. ↑ Battaglia, Danielle. "Democrats face backlash for 2024 campaign report, including error-filled NC section". The News & Observer.
  33. 1 2 3 4 Goldmacher, Shane (August 3, 2026). "Author of Democrats' 2024 Autopsy Says Party Left Out Key Chapter". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 3, 2026.
  34. ↑ Vakil, Caroline (August 3, 2026). "Martin denies report that 2024 DNC autopsy left out key chapter". The Hill. Retrieved August 3, 2026.
  35. ↑ "Read the key chapter in dispute". The New York Times. August 3, 2026. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 3, 2026.
  36. ↑ Greenwood, Max (August 3, 2026). "Author of DNC's 2024 Autopsy Takes Aim at Consultant Class". Campaigns & Elections. Retrieved August 3, 2026.
  37. 1 2 Kashinsky, Lisa; Howard, Andrew; Benson, Samuel (May 21, 2026). "'A huge omission': Everyone is baffled by the exclusion of Gaza in DNC autopsy". Politico. Retrieved May 21, 2026.
  38. ↑ "Facing intense internal pressure, DNC releases postelection autopsy that criticizes Kamala Harris". AP News. May 21, 2026. Retrieved May 26, 2026.
  39. ↑ Third Way [@ThirdWayTweet] (May 21, 2026). "Third Way President Jon Cowan on the DNC autopsy" (Tweet). Retrieved May 22, 2026 – via X (formerly Twitter).
  40. ↑ "The DNC's election autopsy ignites new Democratic infighting". Deseret News. May 22, 2026. Retrieved May 27, 2026.
  41. ↑ Davis, Sarah (May 21, 2026). "Hogg calls for Ken Martin's resignation over DNC's delayed 2024 autopsy report". The Hill. Retrieved May 22, 2026.
  42. ↑ Quarshie, Lauren Green and Mabinty (May 22, 2026). "Calls grow for Ken Martin to quit after release of DNC autopsy". Washington Examiner. Retrieved May 26, 2026.

Bibliography

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Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=DNC_autopsy&oldid=1368369870"