The Leader Democrats Need
Tomorrow morning, I join 446 other members of the Democratic National Committee to elect the next leader of our party at a time of both challenges and opportunities. As a sitting party official and long-time Democratic activist, I approached this race with an open mind, eager to hear the vision and solutions offered by our many qualified, charismatic candidates. To that end, I’ve met with Chair candidates one-on-one multiple times since the election to discuss their ideas for the future of our party. I’ve spoken to hundreds of state party leaders and grassroots activists, as well as the donors whose generosity make so much of our work possible. I’ve witnessed every DNC Future Forum to evaluate our potential Chairs, just as other undecided DNC members have done. And at those forums, as Finance Chair, I’ve welcomed each candidate to all our National Finance Committee receptions, introduced them to our party’s most committed stakeholders, and gave them a chance to convince these dedicated Democrats — myself included — that they have what it takes to lead our party forward.
That’s why, after very careful consideration, I am joining Vice President Biden and Democrats of all stripes from all 50 states in supporting former Labor Secretary Tom Perez for Chair of the DNC.
While I seriously considered remaining publicly neutral at the beginning of this process, I have come to the conclusion that there is simply too much at stake to remain silent ahead of this important election. Since the election of Donald Trump, grassroots activists, thought leaders, major donors, and party strategists have already begun mobilizing against President Trump while the DNC remained on the sidelines. This must change immediately. We must take every ounce of this grassroots energy and translate it into electoral wins to fight our way out the wilderness.
I shouldn’t need to remind anyone that in addition to losing the White House and the United States House and Senate, Democrats now control less than one third of state legislative chambers and just 16 governors’ mansions, where the battle lines of the next decade will be drawn. With our party at its worst standing in generations, the rights of middle and working class families, women, immigrants, the LGBT community, religious minorities, communities of color, and countless others will remain under constant assault by bigots and billionaires unless we reverse this political status quo.
If Democrats don’t win elections from the local level up to the White House beginning with the 2017 off-year elections; continuing into the 2018 midterms; and concluding with a total victory in 2020, we will live in Donald Trump’s America until it might just be too late.
We all agree that DNC’s primary objective must be supporting all 50 state parties in their efforts to retake control of federal, state-level, and local elected offices. But as a former Secretary of Labor and during his tenure leading the Justice Department’s Civil Rights division under President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder, Tom blazed trails and proved that he alone understands how to manage a complex organization with both national and local chapters that need to work together to achieve success. He will bring to the DNC a managerial expertise that ensures it operates efficiently, makes the best hires at the local and national level, and coordinates effectively with state party leaders and Democratic candidates and foot soldiers across the country. As a several-year veteran of the DNC, I cannot understate how crucial this mixture of vision and nuts-and-bolts, hands-on, day-to-day, work is.
I support Tom because of his record and his vision for the futures of both our party and our country. During his tenure at the Labor Department, Tom was a fierce advocate for workers who fought for the right to organize; expanded overtime protections; and defended hard-earned savings, pensions and earnings from predators on Wall Street and Republicans who support them. His strong progressive record on the Democratic Party’s core economic issues makes him the best public advocate for our values and policies at a time when we lack a singular leader in the White House. At the same time, Tom’s demonstrated ability to bring business and labor leaders together is a testament to his capacity to build a unified coalition for the Democratic Party.
Tom will bring to the DNC core progressive values, enthusiasm and energy, and a strategist’s sense of tactical imperatives and messaging. Under his leadership, I know the DNC can be a hub that is an effective force for holding Donald Trump and his Republican enablers in Congress accountable for their crony capitalist, anti-middle class agenda that would ravage the country we love and turn back the clock for millions of our brothers and sisters.
Tom also has the critical organizing skills needed to mobilize our supporters and keep us laser-focused on achieving victory. As a former Assistant U.S. Attorney for Civil Rights, Tom has the background and tenacity needed to transform the DNC’s voter protection and expansion efforts into a machine that can fight Republicans desperate to block access to the vote — and help state parties combat the egregious gerrymandering and voter suppression laws enacted by Republican governors and legislators since 2010. As president of CASA de Maryland, Tom grew a small community service organization into one of the nation’s largest immigrant advocacy groups.
I’ve dedicated my life to empowering the Latino community in my native Texas and across the country. I know that in addition to rebuilding bridges and maintaining our core supporters, we must look to the rising communities of the future. I’m convinced that Tom knows how we grow from the grassroots — and after talking with all the candidates for Chair, I also believe he has the best and most thought-out plans for how the DNC can do so at a time when we need it the most.
But if there is one thing I know as National Finance Chairman in charge of securing investments and raising resources for the party, it’s that none of those objectives can be accomplished without adequate funding. Funding a national political party was challenging enough when we had a rock-star president in the oval office to help — it is substantially more difficult going forward — especially knowing that Donald Trump and his Republican enablers will have virtually unlimited funding at their disposal. No matter how great their plans for organizing or advocacy may be, the next DNC Chair can only successfully support the work of state parties if they can provide state parties and the national organization with the necessary financial resources to deliver the wins we need. I am thoroughly convinced that Tom is the candidate best equipped to work with me to provide those resources. Tom will also use those resources to engage tech experts and protect our information from destructive forces in an era of cyberwarfare — another issue to which I as a sitting DNC member am acutely sensitive.
We have been lucky to be able to choose from an extraordinarily talented field in this race. Rep. Keith Ellison has been among the strongest progressive voices in Congress and, should he remain there, I hope he is afforded the opportunity to contribute his leadership skills to both the House Democratic Caucus and the DNC in some other capacity. As the last remaining state party chair in this race, Jaime Harrison brought a unique perspective to the debate and raised important issues about the challenges facing red-state party leaders that must be addressed going forward. Mayor Pete Buttigieg highlighted the importance of elevating the next generation of Democrats. And Sally Boynton Brown, Jehmu Greene, Peter Pecarsky, and Sam Ronan have also brought new ideas and new energy into the DNC election process that we will depend upon to win elections going forward.
Come February 26th, I pledge to work tirelessly with whichever one of these excellent candidates becomes our next Chair to support Democrats up and down the ballot across the country. On that day, Democrats everywhere must put aside the divisions of the past and work together towards our common goals. Only by doing so can we oust the GOP from power and enact our progressive agenda that serves all Americans. But the day before, I will be voting for Tom Perez as DNC Chair — and I enthusiastically urge my 446 fellow DNC members to join me.
