Congratulations To New DNC Chairman Tom Perez

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) finally has a new chairman. On Saturday, the DNC members elected Tom Perez (pictured) to lead them. It took two ballots between the leading candidates -- Tom Perez and Keith Ellison. On the second ballot, Perez received 235 votes (with 218 being required) and Ellison received 200 votes.

Perez is a solid liberal/progressive Democrat, with a long career in government service. He served as Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights from 2009 to 2013, and as Secretary of Labor from 2013 to 2017.

In an effort to establish party unity, Perez's first action as DNC chair was to appoint Keith Ellison as his deputy chair.

Ellison's candidacy had been pushed by the Bernie Sanders wing of the party (even though Sanders still says he is not a Democrat). Will the Bernie-crats accept Perez as the party leader? I hope so. It's time for Democrats to come together to oppose Trump and his GOP Congress before they do serious damage to this country. We simply can't afford to further extend this party squabble.