The four regional forums are done, and in eight days, the 447 voting members of the Democratic National Committee will pick the party’s next chairman (or woman) and senior leaders.
The big drama in the past few days: Tom Perez sent out an email to DNC members saying he had locked up 180 votes – a claim which can’t be independently verified – out of the 224 votes necessary to win the chairmanship. This prompted Keith Ellison to send out his own email to DNC members accusing Ellison – without naming him – of misleading or misrepresenting his lead in the state of the race. Young Turks reporter Nomiki Konst created a bit of a stir when she tweeted a series of photos showing Perez and Ellison having dinner together at a Dupont Circle restaurant after a candidates’ forum organized by the Woman’s National Democratic Club. Perez and Ellison subsequently tweeted that they were just friends, and in a statement pledged cooperation regardless of who won the chairmanship at the election later this month.
NBC’s Alex Seitz-Wald reported that Ellison had offered New Hampshire Democratic Party chairman Ray Buckley “a role leading DNC operations” in exchange for his endorsement in the race. Asked to comment on this report, a source close to Buckley responded, “The Chairman is still in the race and is keeping all options on the table right now. He wants to make sure whatever he does is in the party’s best interests.”
Beyond that, here is the list of all the endorsements that have been announced by the various candidates over the past several days:
Sally Boynton Brown:
Pete Buttigieg:
- Former Ohio governor Ted Strickland
- Former Pennsylvania governor Ed Rendell
- Gary, Indiana mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson
- Former DNC chairman Joe Andrew
- Former DNC chairman Steve Grossman
- Former DNC chairman David Wilhelm
- Former White House chief of staff Bill Daley
- Indiana senator Joe Donnelly
- Indiana Democratic Party chairman John Zody
Keith Ellison:
- Indiana Democratic Party vice chair Cordelia Lewis-Burks
- New York Democratic Party vice chair Christine Quinn
- Minnesota DFL chair Ken Martin
- Nebraska Democratic Party chair Jane Kleeb
- Rhode Island Democratic Party chair Joseph McNamara
- South Dakota Democratic Party vice chair Joe Lowe
- Vermont Democratic Party vice chair Tim Jerman
- Maine Democratic Party chair Phil Bartlett
Jaime Harrison:
- Ohio representative Tim Ryan
- Ohio representative Marcia Fudge
- Connecticut representative John Larson
Tom Perez:
- Maryland Democratic Party chair Bruce Poole
- Former Maryland Democratic Party chair Michael Cryor
- Former Maryland Democratic Party chair Isiah Leggett
- Former Maryland Democratic Party chair Terry Lierman
- House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer
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