Category: Democratic National Committee

DNC Chair Candidates Publish Their Platforms

As the race for chairmanship and other elected leadership posts in the Democratic National Committee heats up, candidates have begun putting out their platforms.  Here are the ones that are out so far (Note that candidates with an asterisk next to their name are incumbents running for re-election):

DNC Chair Candidates
Sally Boynton Brown
Ray Buckley
Pete Buttigieg
Keith Ellison
Jehmu Greene
Jaime Harrison
Peter Peckarsky
Tom Perez
Sam Ronan
Robert Vinson Brannum

DNC Vice Chair Candidates
Michael Blake
Melissa Byrne
Mitch Ceasar
Maria Elena Durazo *
Liz Jaff
Lorna Johnson
Latoia Jones
Grace Meng *
Rick Palacio
Adam Parkhomenko

DNC Vice Chair of Civic Engagement and Voter Participation Candidates
Karen Carter Peterson
Melissa Fazli
Chris Reeves
Yasmine Taeb

Secretary Candidates
Ana Cuprill
Roberta Lange
Jason Rae
Stephanie Rawlings-Blake *

Treasurer Candidates
Joyce Amico
Bill Derrough

National Finance Chair Candidates
Henry Muñoz III *

Withdrawn/Did Not Run
Xavier Becerra (Opted not to run. Nominated Attorney General of California December 1.)
Howard Dean (Declared November 10. Dropped out December 2.)
Ilyse Hogue  (Opted not to run December 21.)
Steve Israel (Opted not to run)
Martin O’Malley (Opted not to run)
Vincent Tolliver (Declared for Houston DNC Forum January 28, expelled from the race January 31.)

As more candidates get in the race and publish their platforms, they will be added to this list.

Howard Dean Drops Out of DNC Chairman Race

Governor Howard Dean (D-Vt.) released this video for the Association of State Democratic Chairs meeting happening in Denver this weekend.

In addition to announcing his withdrawal from the race, he did not endorse another candidate and encouraged that whoever gets elected to the post take the job as a full-time position – a seeming reference to Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) who is a sitting member of Congress.  Based on the number of endorsements he has accumulated, Ellison remains the front-runner in the race, but that doesn’t mean anything at this point. The winner has to receive the votes of at least 224 out of the 447 voting members of the Democratic National Committee.

Dean’s withdrawal leaves three confirmed candidates in the race (Ellison, New Hampshire Democratic Party chairman Ray Buckley, and South Carolina Democratic Party chairman Jaime Harrison) which creates some interesting dynamics.

  • Two of the candidates (Ellison and Harrison) are African American. The other (Buckley) is white and openly gay. All three represent constituencies in the Democratic coalition.
  • Two of the candidates (Buckley and Harrison) represent the second and third states in the existing order of the presidential primaries. In both their cases it would raise legitimate questions about whether or not they would be willing to reform or significantly alter the primary calendar and nominating process, lest their home state lose power and influence over the process.
  • Two of the candidates (Buckley and Ellison) are over the age of 50.  Harrison is in his early 40s. This could create a generational divide in terms of outlook for the party’s future, priorities, values, etc. Harrison has said that if he is elected chairman, he will create a Vice Chair position to be filled by someone under the age of 35. Given that Hillary Clinton underperformed with millennials in the recent election, Harrison’s youth could be an asset.
  • Each of them come from states with different political leanings. Ellison represents an urban district in a solidly blue state (Minnesota). Buckley leads the party in a swing state with a track record of voting for both parties in federal, state, and local races (New Hampshire). Harrison leads the party in a solidly red state where Democrats have not been very successful in recent years (South Carolina).
  • Two of the candidates (Buckley and Ellison) come from states with predominantly white populations. Only Harrison comes from a state with a significant minority population – African Americans account for nearly 28 percent of South Carolina’s population according to the most recent census data. Ellison comes from and represents the Upper Midwest – the region of the country that determined the election. This could be an asset for him in making his argument.
  • All three candidates come from small states population-wise, according to the most recent census data. (Minnesota – 5.5 million, 10 electoral votes; South Carolina – 4.9 million, 9 electoral votes; New Hampshire – 1.3 million, 4 electoral votes)
  • Two of the candidates (Buckley and Harrison) are sitting state party chairmen. If either of them were elected, he would be a full-time DNC chairman.  Of those two, Buckley and his state party produced the best results in the recent election, delivering New Hampshire for the presidential and Senate races.  Ellison said he might be open to leaving his congressional seat to do the DNC chairman job full-time. The fact that Buckley and Harrison have had to run their state parties and have lived and operated outside of Washington D.C. could be an asset in making their case for why they can best lead and reform the party, as opposed to a sitting member of Congress who has lived and worked in the capital for years. The party’s recent experience with Debbie Wasserman Schultz could also make it averse to choosing another member of Congress as DNC chairman.

There is still the possibility of other candidates jumping in the race, particularly Ilyse Hogue (president of NARAL Pro-Choice America) and Stephanie Schriock (president of Emily’s List).

Keith Ellison’s Controversial Comments From His Past Getting Renewed Scrutiny

Several news and political organizations have been reviewing and publicizing Rep. Keith Ellison’s writings about Zionism, Nation of Islam founder Louis Farrakhan, and slavery reparations from more than two decades ago.  CNN did an in-depth review which you can read here. They became an issue during his first congressional run ten years ago. He has since disavowed his involvement with the Nation of Islam and has been defended by Jewish organizations like the Anti-Defamation League and J Street. His past writings and views are drawing renewed scrutiny since Ellison announced his candidacy for the chairmanship of the Democratic National Committee.

Ellison wrote this blog post on Medium explaining his background and the context for some of the issues at the time that are now being raised against him. It’s a start, but clearly he will have to address these issues from his past publicly and privately to convince DNC members to elect him as chairman.

UPDATE: Bad news for Ellison. The Anti-Defamation League has released a statement retracting its previous defense of Ellison, citing a recording of a 2010 speech – after he had been elected to Congress – which they describe as “deeply disturbing and disqualifying.” Here’s the relevant excerpt:

New information recently has come to light that raises serious concerns about whether Rep. Ellison faithfully could represent the Democratic Party’s traditional support for a strong and secure Israel. In a speech recorded in 2010 to a group of supporters, Rep. Ellison is heard suggesting that American foreign policy in the Middle East is driven by Israel, saying: “The United States foreign policy in the Middle East is governed by what is good or bad through a country of 7 million people. A region of 350 million all turns on a country of 7 million. Does that make sense? Is that logic? Right? When the Americans who trace their roots back to those 350 million get involved, everything changes.”

Rep. Ellison’s remarks are both deeply disturbing and disqualifying.  His words imply that U.S. foreign policy is based on religiously or national origin-based special interests rather than simply on America’s best interests. Additionally, whether intentional or not, his words raise the specter of age-old stereotypes about Jewish control of our government, a poisonous myth that may persist in parts of the world where intolerance thrives, but that has no place in open societies like the U.S. These comments sharply contrast with the Democratic National Committee platform position, which states: “A strong and secure Israel is vital to the United States because we share overarching strategic interests and the common values of democracy, equality, tolerance, and pluralism.”

Read the statement in its full context here.

UPDATE II: Here’s Ellison’s response to the ADL statement.

Former California Speaker John Perez Running for Xavier Becerra’s Congressional Seat

Former California Assembly speaker John Perez – who announced yesterday he was considering a run for DNC chairman – announced he will be running for Congress. This just in from Democratic strategist Dave Jacobson:

Perez apparently sent out a press statement shortly after the Becerra news broke.

If Perez is going to run for Becerra’s seat in California’s 34th congressional district, that would presumably take him out of contention for the DNC chairman race.

Ilyse Hogue’s Platform for the DNC

There has been a lot of speculation about whether or not NARAL Pro-Choice America president Ilyse Hogue is going to enter the DNC chair race or not. There are currently four declared candidates (Ray Buckley, Howard Dean, Keith Ellison, and Jaime Harrison) and at least three others said to be considering a run (Hogue, former California Assembly speaker John Perez, and Emily’s List president Stephanie Schriock).

One thing Hogue has done is publish a detailed agenda or platform (which you can read here) of what she thinks the party needs to do to reform and move forward.

She has also picked up the endorsement of liberal blogger Markos Moulitsas.

Former California Assembly Speaker Considering Getting In DNC Chair Race

John Perez, former speaker of the California Assembly, is considering entering the race for DNC chairman, according to a recent interview with Politico’s Carla Marinucci. Perez – who is openly gay – also said issues of importance to LGBT citizens are a concern now with the incoming administration and both chambers of Congress under Republican control:

Perez told attendees at Tuesday’s conference that there is an immediate need for the Democratic Party to protect LGBT voters against possible action by conservative activists buoyed by the Trump win.

For LGBT voters, “everything is on the table — and everything is very scary — when you look at both houses of Congress,’’ he said. “Trump has spoken in very unclear terms about … issues in the LGBT community. Hence, he’s been very clear,’’ said Perez. Vice President-elect Mike Pence, he said, is “one of the most ardent opponents of equality, who has advanced the notion of legalizing discrimination.”

He said his concerns go beyond marriage equality. “Fundamentally, it’s people being able to live free of fear for their personal safety and their economic stability,” he said.

He also said he was still “evaluating” on whether or not to run for the position.

James Clyburn Endorses Jaime Harrison for DNC Chair

South Carolina Democratic Party chairman Jaime Harrison picked up his first big endorsement today in his race for to become chairman of the Democratic National Committee. Rep. James Clyburn (R-S.C.), his former boss and the third-ranking Democrat in the House of Representatives, sent out an email to DNC members this morning endorsing his former aide, according to Politico’s Gabriel Debenedetti.

Harrison’s response on Twitter:

UPDATE: I’ve obtained a copy of the Clyburn email. A good part of the email is biographical in nature, but here are the key excerpts:

I write to strongly encourage you to support Jaime Harrison for Chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC).  He has the experience, vision, and commitment to rebuild our party and to return us to victory on national, state, and local levels.

Jaime’s experiences have made him adept at connecting with people at all levels – from South Carolina fish fries and Maryland crab boils to the hallowed halls of our finest colleges and universities.  Jaime is well regarded by many of my colleagues here and by Democrats from around the country.  We need someone who understands, appreciates, and values the diversity of our party. Jaime Harrison is pitch-perfect for the job.

Our next DNC chair must work full-time to rebuild our party.  The Chair must bridge the divide between those who navigate our political corridors and those who work hard, play by the rules, and want little more than to care for their families and to create stability and opportunity for their children and grandchildren.  I know from over 20 years of experiences with Jaime that he is the right person for the job.  His unrelenting work ethic, keen intellect, collaborative spirit, and utmost integrity will serve our party well.  I commend him to you for your sincere consideration and, hopefully, strong support.

Rust Belt Democrats Want to Meet With DNC Chair Candidates in December

Here’s a good scoop from Politico’s Gabriel Debenedetti:

Top Democratic officials in four Rust Belt states that voted for Donald Trump earlier this month have invited the candidates for the Democratic National Committee chairmanship to formally share their thoughts on how the party can compete there at a meeting next month.

A letter obtained by POLITICO and circulated by officials with the Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania Democratic parties on Tuesday evening invites the candidates to the Ohio group’s executive committee meeting on Dec. 10.

“As Chairs and Vice Chairs of states in the industrial Midwest — traditional bellwether or ‘red’ states — we are particularly concerned to hear the ideas and plans you and other candidates have to help us turn this critical region blue again. How will you continue to energize the coalition that has performed so well to elect Democrats at times, while also making inroads in the areas where President-Elect Trump did so well across our states? We are also eager to share our ideas,” the letter reads.

“Bottom line: We’d be honored to have you come to our region to hear directly from Democrats, present your plans and ideas, and engage our grassroots activists who are eager to be part of the conversation.”

If any of the candidates accept, the letter notes, the hosts will invite all DNC members to attend.

Hillary Clinton’s losses in this region were perhaps the most alarming development of the election for state and national Democrats. With the exception of Ohio and Indiana, Democrats had a lock on Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin in presidential races since the 1980s. A combined margin of victory of approximately 107,000 votes in those three states secured the presidency for Donald Trump, despite a 2.36 million vote lead in the popular vote for Clinton as votes are still being counted.

Will be keeping an eye on the DNC candidates to see how they respond to this invitation. Any responses will be updated and added here.

Democrats Weigh In On Party’s Direction, Message and Future

Several Democrats – including a DNC chair candidate, an Obama cabinet secretary, and a potential 2020 presidential candidate – penned a collection of mini op-eds for the Washington Post outlining their vision for the party and its future. All of them are worth reading.

Ray Buckley Makes It Official, Enters Race for DNC Chairman

New Hampshire Democratic Party chairman and DNC vice chair Ray Buckley has officially announced he is running to be the next chairman of the Democratic National Committee. The full text of his announcement (note that he is promising “radical reform of how the DNC operates”) has been posted on his Facebook page:

I’m in!

I am a candidate for Chair of the Democratic National Committee. I look forward to a robust discussion with you on the future of the Democratic Party and I ask for and hope to earn your support.

Make no mistake, if I am elected chair there will be radical reform of how the DNC operates. You and every member of the DNC will be called on to fully participate in the governance of our party. The DNC will be a team effort unlike what we have seen for many years. Every voice should be respected, every face reflected in the Democratic Party. The party cannot just be about winning the White House. We have thousands of other races, including state, county and local races, that we need to win as well.

To me, the Democratic Party’s message is simple: we firmly stand for the opportunity of every American to achieve the American dream. There should be no walls obstructing anyone’s success, both literally and figuratively. We are a dynamic, diverse party that represents the hopes and aspirations of millions of Americans. Our party must also continue to strive to include every voice and every idea from our grassroots.

I ask that you share with me your ideas – both big and small – for how the DNC can best do its job of helping to elect Democrats. Collectively we can be the change that is needed.

After we talk and you’ve had time to reflect, I hope you will decide to support me and together we can get to work reforming the DNC, strengthening our state parties, and rebuilding our grassroots nationwide.

I will be reaching out to you soon to discuss the future of our party, but please do not hesitate to contact me.

Sincerely,

Ray Buckley

According to the New Hampshire Union Leader, Buckley has already picked up a few endorsements:

  • Joanne Dowdell: DNC at-large member.
  • Martha Fuller Clark: First vice chair of NH Democratic Party, and state senator representing the 21st Senate district. She was also the first superdelegate to support Bernie Sanders at the Democratic National Convention
  • Bill Shaheen: DNC committeeman from New Hampshire, husband of Senator Jeanne Shaheen.
  • Kathy Sullivan: DNC committeewoman from New Hampshire.