Nebraska’s Kleeb elected chair of state chairs for Democratic National Committee

LINCOLN — Jane Kleeb, chair of the Nebraska Democratic Party, has been elected by her national Democratic Party cohorts as president of the Association of State Democratic Committees, essentially making her chair of state party chairs.

She was elected Sunday to the four-year post by the chairs and vice chairs of state Democratic parties. Outgoing DNC chair Jaime Harrison, who visited Nebraska to help former Vice President Kamala Harris win the “blue dot,” celebrated Kleeb’s victory in a tweet, calling her a “dear friend.” She will do both jobs, as the chair of chairs must also lead a state party.

Nebraska Democratic Party Executive Director Precious McKesson, a longtime Kleeb ally, said in a statement that the state party “could not be more excited and proud to have a Nebraskan lead the collective group of Democratic state parties” nationally.

“Her background as a rural leader will bring kitchen table issues to the forefront,” McKesson said.

Kleeb’s campaign for chair of chairs had emphasized the need to get national Democrats to focus more of their attention on rural states and more states outside of the obvious seven to 10 presidential and Senate swing states. She lives in Adams County.

Her campaign website for the job argued for broadening the scope of where Democrats compete by having the party follow more of Harrison’s 50-state approach of investing in more places, including making more state chairs into paid positions.

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Kleeb, like about three-fourths of state Democratic party chairs, is not paid for her work on behalf of the state party in Nebraska. Kleeb said increasing national investments in state parties, including in Republican-led states like Nebraska, help those states win more races. 

Money, she said, helps state parties hire qualified staff who can win elections down-ballot and work their way up, “like we’ve done so successfully in Nebraska.” She often touts growing the number of elected Democrats statewide from 500 in 2016 to 900 in 2023.

Kleeb has long argued that a strength of her tenure in state party leadership has been growing the Democratic bench of elected officials at the local level. She has faced some criticism for the party’s losses at the state and federal level, where Democrats have lost seats in the state Legislature and have not won a major statewide or federal office since 2014.

Democrats on her watch have won a stray Electoral College vote from Nebraska’s Omaha-based 2nd Congressional District in the past two presidential elections. However, 2nd District U.S. Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., has survived multiple close races with Democratic challengers over the same span.

Nebraska Republicans have tried in recent years to increase the state GOP’s focus on local and school board races to push back against some Democratic wins, to varying effect. The Nebraska Republican Party had no immediate comment on her election.

“I want to make sure the DNC is expanding the map,” Kleeb said. ”We have a failed strategy focusing only on seven states, and we have not prepared our state chairs and vice chairs with the training and financial resources they need to succeed.” 

Kleeb will join the national leadership team of new DNC chair Ken Martin as a vice chair. Martin held the post before Kleeb. She said she would make sure Nebraska Democrats maintain her attention but will have the help of nearly eight staffers at the national and regional levels.

“I’m a mom,” Kleeb said. “I know how to balance and multitask. I’ve been doing it my whole life. What’s the old saying? If you want something done, go ask a busy person. I have a really strong staff team at the Nebraska Democratic Party and at the ASDC.”