Left-wing Democratic leaders Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Democratic National Committee chair candidate Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., are seeking to rebuild a party that has been left in shambles by the Obama presidency.

The Democrats have lost majorities in the House and Senate and been obliterated by the Republicans at the state and local level since Obama assumed office in 2009. In a speech this week to progressive activists at a rally for Ellison’s candidacy to lead the Democratic National Committee, Ellison and Sanders both said the party needed new leadership and noted that it had declined during recent years.