7 Things You Should Know About Tom Perez, the New Chairman of the Democratic Party
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On Feb. 25, former secretary of labor Tom Perez was elected as the new chairman of the Democratic National Committee. Perez won in a tight race against Minnesota Rep. Keith Ellison with 235 to 200 votes. Despite Perez's support from Barack Obama, Joe Biden, and Hillary Clinton, progressives in the Democratic party believed Ellison was the best choice to lead the party following Trump's surprising upset victory in the 2016 president election.
Ellison, who was appointed deputy chair of the DNC by Perez, spoke in favor of rallying behind the new chairman. "I trust Tom Perez," Ellison said in a joint news conference late Saturday evening. "If you trust me, then you've got to come on board with Tom Perez." Keep reading to find out seven things you should know about Tom Perez ahead.
- Perez is the first Latino leader of Democratic Party.
- He's the son of immigrants from the Dominican Republic.
- He graduated from Brown University in 1983 and got his law degree from Harvard in 1987.
- He helped pay for his undergraduate education by working as a garbage collector and in a warehouse.
- He is in favor of raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour.
- He supported the controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership that Hillary Clinton later distanced herself from in 2016 after calling it "the gold standard" for trade.
- He wasn't endorsed by Bernie Sanders to be the new chairman. Bernie said Perez represented the "failed status-quo" when asked about his thoughts on who should lead the Democratic party.