James Skoufis: The Outsider Hoping to Save the Democrats

In the aftermath of a bruising electoral defeat, the Democratic Party is at a crossroads. Kamala Harris’s attempt to break the ultimate glass ceiling faltered, leaving Democrats not only to grapple with their loss but also to confront deeper questions about the party’s direction.

For James Skoufis, a Greek-American state senator from New York, the way forward runs through reconnecting with the party’s estranged voters. At 36, Skoufis is vying for the chairmanship of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), seeking to guide the party out of its current crisis.

In an interview with To Vima International edition, Skoufis outlined his vision for revitalizing the DNC. Having represented Orange County for over a decade, he is familiar with the challenges of navigating a diverse district that spans urban, suburban, and rural communities in New York’s Hudson Valley.

The region is emblematic of the challenges Democrats face nationwide—a battleground where Republicans thrive, and Democrats often struggle to break through. Yet Skoufis has managed to win there, not once, but three times, despite its “Trump turf,” as he describes it. His success, he insists, holds lessons for a party that desperately needs to expand its reach.

Born in Flushing, Queens—once a bastion of Greek-American life—James Skoufis has maintained deep ties to the community. His father continues to run a grocery store in Brooklyn. In 2020, amid the migrant crisis at Greece’s Evros border, Skoufis addressed a gathering in Astoria organized by expatriate associations.

Skoufis’s candidacy for DNC chair reflects his outsider status. Unlike his rivals—Martin O’Malley, a former Maryland governor, and Ken Martin, a DNC vice chair—Skoufis offers no Washington credentials. But in a party disillusioned by its recent leadership, he sees this as a strength.

Where do you attribute the success in a purple district? Are there lessons that Democrats can take and implement in national level?

It begins by showing up everywhere and meeting people where they are. That’s what I have done for 12 years and not even just a purple district but a red district. I’ve gone to some of the most conservative Republican places and show up and speak with people. I don’t tell them how they should be thinking. I don’t lecture them about what their priorities are. I do a lot of listening and coalition building. Right now, the National Democratic Party has what I consider a trust deficit. We have lost a lot of trust with a lot of different stakeholder groups. I think the DNC has stopped going to uncomfortable places whether they be communities, whether they be meeting rooms, whether they be media outlets. That’s something that I live and breathe every day in my red district for 12 years. So, I am comfortable doing it. I embrace doing it and I would certainly do that as the next DNC chair.

Does this outreach imply that you would like to reshape the party’s messaging to appeal to both traditional Democrats and swing voters?

I think it begins by speaking in a language that is relatable to people. We have gotten into this bad habit of using overly academic language as if we are sometimes perceived as better running for a university chancellorship than for public office. Similarly, we can be overly politically correct. So, we need to start using language that people can understand, that they find relatable and doing again a lot more listening than lecturing. I you know that someone cares about border security, there shouldn’t be any Democrats who label that person as racist. And we need to be responsive in addressing the concerns that whether we like them or not are top of mind for voters.

You have been labeled as an outsider in this race. What kind of feedback have you received from colleagues and voters about your bid, and how do you feel about your prospects?

The response has been exceptionally positive. I am certainly the outsider in the race, but I think a lot of DNC members recognize that we have to do things differently. We have tried going with the operatives. We have tried going with the product of a party machine. We have tried going with the DC Beltway guy. And so, my pitch is that it’s time we try something different, and it’s time to bring in someone who won’t hesitate to make significant wholesale reform within the DNC, not just tinker around the edges. And the argument I am making is that the best person to do that is an outsider who knows how to win.

Critics say the Democratic Party is seen as dominated by political elites and institutional mechanisms disconnected from everyday Americans. How would you, as DNC chair, address this perception?

We need to dispel that perception by showing up and demonstrating that we get people. If we are not even showing up to the conversation, whether it be not appearing on more hostile outlets like Fox News and Joe Rogan’s podcast, then the only people that those voters are hearing from are the Republican party operatives and surrogates. And so, it starts by showing up, being everywhere, every corner of the country. And that’s what I have done, certainly on a more modest scale. The same skillset that I bring as DNC chair is showing up and having the conversation and winning back that trust that we have lost.

Many immigrants, minorities, and working-class voters hold traditional family and social values that may not always align with the Democratic Party’s platform. Do you see this as an obstacle to the Democrats being the true party of the working class?

It’s something we absolutely have to address. In all of my campaigns, I have worked as a populist who speaks to the real everyday challenges that voters face. And, you know, 99% of voters know full well where both parties stand on abortion access. To send 97 mailers on abortion to a battleground district or a battleground state, I would argue that we should be refocusing some of that spending and messaging on economic issues in particular that voters heard from us less about over the past several years. And so, it’s going to take some time to rebuild those bridges and rebuild the once large Democratic tent that we were very proud of building, especially during the Obama years. So, I do believe that we have lost sight of some of those working-class values. And given my background, as the son of an immigrant who grew up in a union household, the campaigns I have run have been populist. I am well situated to be one of the faces of the Democratic leadership to start winning back those working class voters who have been fleeing the party in recent years.