Former Labor Secretary Thomas Perez’s message in his bid to lead the Democratic National Committee boils down to two words: experience matters.
As DNC members prepare to vote later this month, some of them are beginning to gravitate toward Mr. Perez, saying his experience running a major federal department and, before that, challenging voter ID laws as a senior official in the Justice Department could give him an edge over more politically polished and flashier rivals.
“It is an advantage that Mr. Perez has,” said John Ramos, a DNC member from Florida who is leaning toward supporting the 55-year-old but also likes Rep. Keith Ellison of Minnesota.
“If you listen to Ellison, he has a dynamic personality. We might need someone with that voice, and he is very charismatic,” he said. “For me personally, I am 51 [percent to] 49 [percent], with the 51 percent going for Mr. Perez.”
The next chair of the Democratic National Committee will take over a party in tatters, still reeling from anti-Bernard Sanders behavior during the 2016 primary and from massive losses in the White House and state races in November.
The top contenders for the job have similar ideological visions, leaving each of them looking for a reason to stand out.
David Pepper, chairman of Ohio Democrats, who remains uncommitted in the race, said Mr. Perez’s resume could resonate with some members.
“I think it is going to come down to an assessment of who can do the job,” Mr. Pepper said. “I think people are going to feel like these folks are saying similar things, and they are saying them well, but then I think the next step is picking a leader who can actually do it.”
Elaine Kamarck, a DNC member from Massachusetts, said Mr. Perez is the best equipped to revamp the party’s infrastructure and reconnect with voters in the flyover states that have abandoned the party.
“There are two skills you really need in that job: an executive-level operation skill which you get from running a big department, and you need negotiation skills because you have to deal with all parts of the party,” she said. “Sometimes you have to deal with the conservative members, maybe the one Democratic member in a red state. You have to make sure you can take care of that person as well as your more solid base.”
For his part, Mr. Perez is casting himself as a turnaround artist who was on the front lines of the fight against voter ID laws when he was assistant attorney general and the fight for pro-worker overtime protections as labor secretary.
“We have a crisis of confidence right now in the Democratic Party and we need a leader at the DNC who can execute a turnaround strategy at scale, and the best indicator of future performance is past performance,” Mr. Perez said at a recent forum. “I have led a $45 billion agency that was not firing on all cylinders, and we turned it around.”
Mr. Ellison and Mr. Perez are considered front-runners in the field, which includes New Hampshire Democratic Chairman Raymond Buckley; South Carolina Democratic Chairman Jaime Harrison; Sally Boynton Brown, executive director of the Idaho Democratic Party; Peter Buttigieg, mayor of South Bend, Indiana; and former Fox News commentator Jehmu Greene.
Mr. Ellison built an early network of support, lining up endorsements from top liberals on Capitol Hill, including Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer of New York and Mr. Sanders, the Vermont independent who lost Democrats’ 2016 presidential nomination to Hillary Clinton but emerged a hero of grass-roots activists. But DNC members didn’t rush to a coronation, demanding time to mull the party’s setbacks and plot a recovery course.
A spokesman for Mr. Ellison declined to respond to inquiries for this story.
Approached by a reporter last week, Mr. Ellison said he would only talk if it was OK with his spokesperson, standing nearby, who told The Washington Times the congressman won’t be able to talk until after the Feb. 25 DNC vote.
Others, meanwhile, have also touted their experience, including Mr. Buckley, who has been fighting in the trenches for 40 years, and Mr. Buttigieg, who believes his experience in winning twice in a red state is what the party needs.
But some worry that Mr. Buckley lacks star quality, and wonder whether Mr. Buddigeig is ready to lead the party at 35 years of age.
Those looking for a happy medium could find it in Mr. Perez, who picked up a noteworthy endorsement this week from former Vice President Joseph R. Biden, who, citing Mr. Perez’s tenure at the Justice and Labor departments, said he is the “best bet to help bring the party back.”
Ms. Kamarck agreed that Mr. Perez’s resume elevates his bid.
“It is a very, very big job, and it involves essentially running a conglomerate, and the conglomerates are the 50 state Democratic parties, where you want to make sure that everyone is as strong as it can be, and everyone is prepared to find and nurture pockets of Democratic support,” Ms. Kamarack said. “That is institution building, and somebody with Perez’s background, working in a large organization, should have a pretty good feel for how to do it.”
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
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