15:53
- ABC News
- February 26, 2017
Former Labor Secretary Tom Perez elected DNC chair
The new party chair will need rebuild after the 2016 presidential defeat.
15:53
Hillary Clinton, Sanders' former rival during the Democratic presidential primaries, tweeted her support of Perez and Ellison, writing, \"Congrats to @DNC chair @TomPerez & deputy @keithellison. Excited for strong, unified party standing for best of our country into the future.\"
Congrats to @DNC chair @TomPerez & deputy @keithellison. Excited for strong, unified party standing for best of our country into the future.
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) February 25, 2017
And former President Barack Obama said in a statement, \"Congratulations to my friend Tom Perez on his election to lead the Democratic Party, and on his choice of Keith Ellison to help him lead it ... I know that Tom Perez will unite us under that banner of opportunity, and lay the groundwork for a new generation of Democratic leadership for this big, bold, inclusive, dynamic America we love so much.\"
Many of the activists who propelled Sanders' campaign and have been key in organizing large scale protest since Trump's election said it was now up to Perez to bring more people into the fold.
\"Ellison offered a chance to hit the ground running and immediately start building bridges between the DNC and the progressive activist base,\" said Adam Green of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee. \"The burden will be on [Perez] to build the bridge.\"
After emails leaked last summer revealed former chair Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz had purportedly influenced the presidential primary, many activists who supported Sanders were left feeling betrayed and disillusioned by the party establishment. Those leaks last summer forced Wasserman Schultz to step down.
Larry Cohen, a long-time union organizer who campaigned for Ellison promised, however, to stay actively involved in the formal party.
\"We'll be here until we have a progressive populist party,\" he said.
Rep. Maxine Waters of California voted for Ellison, but said she was confident Perez would be able to bring people together.
Former DNC Chair Howard Dean had backed South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, who bowed out of the race minutes before the vote. Dean told reporters on Friday that he did not think the party could \"prosper\" with a chair from inside the beltway and that if Perez or Ellison was elected they would \"do the best we can.\"
Democrats also defeated a resolution that would have banned corporate donations to the party -- a chance to reinstate an Obama policy that was nixed under Wasserman Schultz.
Those in favor said the party needed to send a bold message to the grassroots and make a statement about \"values.\" Those against said there was no point is proactively handicapping themselves when the \"other side\" had deep pockets.
Activists in the room booed and jeered when the resolution was defeated.
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