Perez defeated Keith Ellison on a second ballot at the Democratic National Committee meeting in Atlanta on Saturday.
In this June 22, 2016, file photo, Labor Secretary Thomas Perez speaks at a news conference at the Treasury Department in Washington. (AP PHOTO/ANDREW HARNIK, FILE)
ATLANTA -- Former Secretary of Labor Tom Perez was elected chairman of the Democratic National Committee Saturday on a closely contested second-ballot vote that amounted to a stinging setback to progressive forces seeking a radical change in leadership to rebuild a deflated party during the era of President Donald Trump.
The 55-year-old Perez became the first Latino to lead the DNC by defeating Minnesota Rep. Keith Ellison, the first Muslim elected to Congress. Perez won 235 votes to Ellison's 200 on the second ballot of national committee members.
On the first ballot, Perez captured 213.5 votes -- U.S. territories are allocated half votes -- which was not enough to cross the majority threshold in a six-candidate field. Ellison won 200 votes on the first ballot, but did not pick up any extra votes after the rest of the candidates dropped out.
In a sign of the immediate discord in the aftermath of the announcement of the tally, supporters of Ellison chanted "Not big money! Party for the people!" But before the vote, Ellison pledged unity no matter what the result.
Ellison was seen as an insurgency candidate of the left, much like Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who waged a surprisingly competitive race for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination last year against Hillary Clinton. In addition to Sanders, Ellison's candidacy was backed by liberal favorites like Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio.
Perez, on the other hand, was seen as more in line with the establishment of the party, earning the backing of Vice President Joe Biden, former Attorney General Eric Holder and Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe.
In his nominating speech, Perez promised a revitalized DNC that would pay more attention to grassroots activism and local races.
"We have to face the facts. We are suffering from a crisis of confidence, a crisis of relevance," he said of the current state of the committee. "You will always have my ear. And I will always have your back. You will not be under-utilized. You will have input in everything we do. The most important question you will hear from me is, 'What do you think?'"
A cloud of controversy threatened the DNC after South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg withdrew his candidacy ahead of the first ballot vote. Shortly after Buttigieg's surprise annoucement, some DNC members received a text message falsely claiming Buttigieg had endorsed Ellison. Buttigieg quickly dispelled that notion with a tweet saying he remained neutral but many Perez supporters were upset by what was perceived as intentional trickery.
The head of the DNC is the public, partisan mouthpiece for the party, and will be one of the leading national voices opposing the Trump administration. But more crucially, Perez will be tasked with fundraising and rebuilding the party's organizational and technological foundations.
Perez will also tasked with uniting the grassroots, much of which supported Sanders and distrusts Washington politicians and the influence of big money. A resolution championed by California DNC member Christine Pelosi to ban the DNC from accepting money from federal corporate lobbyists went down to defeat earlier in the day.
"We hope Chairman Perez will work quickly to build bridges to grassroots progressive groups that have their finger on the pulse of the modern-day resistance – and work to ensure Democrats inspire voters by strongly fighting Trump and big-money special interests like Wall Street," said Stephanie Taylor and Adam Green, the co-founders of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee.
While Ellison mounted a spirited challenge, he was hampered by the perception within the party that his views were too outside of the mainstream and that his past controversial statements would have been a distraction in the fight against Trump.
Prominent Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz appeared on television this week to say he would leave the Democratic Party if Ellison was elected. He cited Ellison's history with Louis Farrakhan's Nation of Islam and recounted a story he was told in which Ellison relayed to a law school colleague he could not respect her because she was Jewish. Ellison denied the claim.
But even as Ellison supporters were dismayed by another victory by establishment forces, Perez moved quickly towards unity, naming Ellison deputy chair of the DNC.
"We are one family and I know we will leave here united today," he said. "A united Democratic Party is not only our best hope -- it is Donald Trump's worst nightmare."
"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," former President Barack Obama said in a statement.
"What unites our party is a belief in opportunity – the idea that however you started out, whatever you look like, or whomever you love, America is the place where you can make it if you try," he said. "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."
