TOP DEMS WILL SQUARE OFF IN DENVER FRIDAY

Four Democrats who hope to lead their national party through a time of diminished power will face off Friday at a forum in Denver.

The “Future of the Party Forum” comes as the race for chairman of the Democratic National Committee has emerged as a proxy battle for the direction of the party with President-elect Donald Trump preparing to enter the White House and Republicans retaining control of both chambers of Congress.

The hopefuls planning to participate Friday include Ray Buckley, the chairman of the New Hampshire Democratic Party; Howard Dean, a former governor of Vermont; Keith Ellison, a Minnesota congressman; and Jaime Harrison, the chairman of the South Carolina Democratic Party.

The party’s next chairman is scheduled to be picked in February by DNC members from across the country, who may or may not take their cue from elected officials. The new chairman will succeed interim chairwoman Donna Brazile, a longtime Democratic operative who stepped in after Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., resigned in July and has since come under fire for leaking debate questions to Hillary Clinton.