Tom Perez

Tom Perez On Why The Democratic Party Needs A Dramatic Culture Shift

... the best way to accomplish this is to make sure the endeavor is “a 12-month enterprise, not just a three-month enterprise before the election.”. President Trump’s successful campaign against Hillary Clinton and its message to voters also inform Perez’s thinking. “What voters heard was ‘he’s feeling my pain, he’s feeling my anxiety,’ ” said the strong campaign surrogate for Clinton. “And what they heard all too frequently from the Clinton campaign was, ‘Vote for me because he’s crazy.’ I will stipulate to the accuracy of that statement, but that’s not an affirmative message.”. Former labor secretary Tom Perez discusses his candidacy for chair of the Democratic National Committee on the “Cape Up” podcast at The Washington Post on Monday. (Carol Alderman/The Washington Post). Listen to the podcast to hear what Perez thinks about the post-election concern for the white working class and whether he thinks it’s possible for a Democratic Party that plays well in ...

Tom Perez Elected Democratic National Committee Chair

... Party battered by historic electoral losses as it is undertakes the task of confronting President Donald Trump and his agenda. He also will have to win the trust of those who supported Ellison, his chief opponent. Many progressive activists who backed Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in the 2016 presidential primary viewed Ellison’s candidacy as a way to secure a foothold in the party after Sanders’ defeat. Perez immediately moved to appoint Ellison deputy DNC chair and accepted a hug from his rival on the conference room stage. “I’m asking you to give everything you’ve got to support Chairman Perez,” Ellison told his supporters. Perez bashed Trump and the “know-nothing movement,” and vowed to lead Democrats to victory against the president in 2020. “We are one family, and I know we will leave here united ...

Tom Perez Nabs Dnc Chair Endorsement From Disability Rights Pioneer

... a chair of the DNC Disability Council, is one of the 447 voting DNC members who will elect the party’s next chair in Atlanta on Saturday. “In the race for leadership of the Democratic Party, we are blessed with some impressive candidates, but one stands out as a longtime champion of working families and people with disabilities: Tom Perez,” Coelho said in a Monday statement announcing his endorsement. “Over the many years in which I’ve known Tom, I have seen him take on fight after fight on behalf of vulnerable Americans and win.”. As majority whip of the House, Coelho, who has epilepsy, introduced the Americans with Disabilities Act, a landmark 1990 law barring discrimination against people with disabilities. In his statement, Coelho pointed to Perez’s advocacy for disability rights as labor secretary, and tough enforcement of the Olmstead decision  as head of the Department of Justice’s civil rights division. The 1999 Supreme Court ruling required states to integrate people with disabilities into their communities, rather than institutionalize them, whenever possible. Paul Morigi/Getty Images. Former Rep. Tony Coelho (D-Calif.) ...

Protester Urges Tom Perez To Back Democratic Primary Challengers

... the forum. Green repeated her question, and after one more repetition — and after security removed the banner but allowed Green to stay — Perez launched into a polite non-answer. “Part of the reason I love the Democratic Party, folks, is that it’s a big tent,” he said. “When we have spirited debates, you know what it reminds me of? Thanksgiving with my family.”. Perez went on to say that Democrats needed to “lock arms” on principles of “inclusion, opportunity and respect for everyone.” He didn’t speak to the primary challenges, but the DNC maintains — or is supposed to maintain — total neutrality in party primaries. Not even Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), a rival candidate whom Green had praised on Twitter, suggested that the party should back challengers. As the forum ended, two of Perez’s 10 ...

Ann Marie Staudenmaier, Tom Perez’s Wife

... Corps. Ann Marie Staudenmaier and Tom Perez met at Jesuit Volunteer Corps. ( Facebook ). Ann Marie Staudenmaier and Tom Perez met while they were both volunteers with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps. This is a volunteer organization headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland, with most volunteers being young college graduates who stay with the organization for about a year. It is associated with the Catholic church, although not all of the volunteers are Catholic. Some of the notable alumni of the Jesuit Volunteer Corps include Hunter Biden, son of former vice president Joe Biden; Bob Casey Jr., a Democratic senator from Pennsylvania; and Bob Ferguson, the attorney general of the state of Washington who brought the lawsuit against President Donald Trump’s travel ban that resulted in the executive order being suspended nationwide. Staudenmaier volunteered with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps from 1983 through 1984 in Buffalo, New York,  according to her Facebook page. ...

Tennessee Democrats Supporting Tom Perez For Dnc Chair

... the two candidates has been deep, and some have said it's divided the party on its direction. "I want to make this clear — this decision should not be viewed a 'wing-vs-wing' fight and anyone who characterizes it as such is playing into the hands of those who benefit from perpetuating the idea that the Democratic Party is divided,” Mancini said. Mancini said the decision to support Perez was unanimous among five party leaders from across the state. Tennessee DNC members include Chairwoman Mary Mancini, Vice Chairman John Litz, and three at-large members: Gale Jones-Carson from Memphis, Will Cheek from Nashville and Bill Owen from Knoxville. Donna Brazile, a former CNN contributor and political strategist, is the current interim chair of the DNC. Both she and her predecessor Debbie Wasserman-Schultz have faced sharp criticism for their leadership and accusations that they leaked presidential debate questions to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton before the debate and emails that ...

Dnc Picks Former Labor Secretary Tom Perez As New Chair

... values and we lead with our actions, we succeed.". While as many as seven candidates entered the field at one point, Ellison and Perez were the only candidates to advance to a second round of balloting after Perez just barely missed the simple majority needed to win, per the Associated Press. Ellison, who would have been the first Muslim chair of the DNC ever, was endorsed by former Democratic presidential candidate and Senator Bernie Sanders and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer in his bid to lead the party, while Perez had the support of former vice president Joe Biden and numerous other Obama administration officials. As a result, many observers saw the race as symbolic of a greater struggle within the Democratic party following its shocking defeats in the 2016 election. On one hand, Perez was seen as the representative of the Obama White House, as well as Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. While neither Obama or Clinton endorsed any candidate in the race, Perez was at one point considered a candidate for Clinton’s vice presidential nominee. On the ...

In Texas, Do You Have To Drive 120 Miles For A Voter Id

... secure a driver’s license, the Houston Chronicle reported. This bit of testimony appears to have been picked up by federal appellate judges in Washington, who ultimately issued a unanimous ruling striking down the law. During oral arguments, U. S. Appeals Court Judge Robert L. Wilkins asked the attorney defending the law for the state whether the law would be a burden on people having to travel more than 100 miles for a driver’s license. "How does that impact your argument?" Wilkins asked. "Isn’t that unduly burdensome?". John Hughes, the attorney for Texas, said rural Texans are used to driving long distances, according to the Washington Post. "People who want to vote already have an ID or can easily get it," he told the judges. But another judge on the panel, David S. Tatel, said, "The record tells us there is a subset of registered voters who lack ID. We have to think about the economic burden and the fact that minorities are disproportionately poor." He, ...