Former Labor Secretary Tom Perez Elected DNC Chair
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(CBSNEWS) - Former Labor Secretary Tom Perez was elected as the new chairman of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) in Atlanta on Saturday afternoon after a competitive race against Rep. Keith Ellison and five other contenders.
Perez won after reaching the threshold of 218 votes out of the 435 members of the DNC. Perez received 235 votes while Ellison had received 200 votes. This came in a second round of voting after Perez failed to reach the threshold by one vote.
Former Vice President Joe Biden, former Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and former Attorney General Eric Holder had backed Perez.
Ellison, a Minnesota Democrat and the first Muslim elected to Congress, had received support from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, 2016 Democratic presidential contender Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts, who could run for president in 2020.
After Perez's win, he moved to appoint Ellison as deputy chairman of the DNC. Ellison asked DNC members "to give everything you've got to support Chairman Perez."
