Former South Carolina Democratic Party chairman Jaime Harrison was chosen by President-elect Joe Biden to serve as the next chairman of the National Democratic Committee (DNC), two party sources confirm to Fox News.
Harrison, who is a current DNC associate chairman and senior adviser, drew national attention last year by demolishing the Senate fundraising records in his unsuccessful attempt to oust Senator Lindsey Graham, RS.C., a strong ally President Trump.
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Harrison, 44, who made history as the first president of the Black Democratic Party in his state, has already served as an adviser to powerful Rep. James Clyburn, DS.C., the third Democrat in the chamber.
Jaime Harrison speaks during the US Senate debate in South Carolina with Senator Lindsey Graham, RS.C., at Allen University in Columbia, SC, Saturday, October 3, 2020. (Joshua Boucher / The State via AP)
Clyburn – a major replacement for Biden during the 2020 campaign that was instrumental in Biden’s crushing victory in the South Carolina primaries, which revived the former vice president’s campaign and launched him toward the Democratic nomination and eventually to the White House – lobbied the president-elect to choose Harrison as president of the DNC.
The fact that Biden names Harrison is a clear sign of Clyburn’s influence on the new president.
Former DNC chairman Donna Brazile, a Fox News contributor, said Harrison was a logical choice to lead the national committee. “He knows the DNC and he knows the party structure,” noted Brazile. “He had good ties to the White House.”
Brazile added that Harrison is “a familiar face within the Democratic Party and he is someone who knows the Capitol as a former Congress official”.
Former Democratic Party chairman of New Hampshire, Ray Buckley, told Fox News last month that “Jaime really fits. You are not hearing a lot of criticism about Jaime because he is so well known. He did a fantastic job as president of the state and did a great job as associate president of the DNC for the past four years. “
Buckley, who for years was president of the Association of State Democratic Chairs, pointed out that Harrison “certainly understands and appreciates the value of a strong state party. His commitment to building the party from the ground up is sincere. He was there and ready to go. which is important for many of us, that someone with state and local national party experience. “
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Harrison, as well as Buckley and then South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg, among others, ran for the DNC chair four years ago in a contest won by Tom Perez, who had served as deputy attorney general for civil rights and secretary I work in the administration of President Barack Obama.
Perez said last year that he would not run for office as president of the party. He is credited with reviving the DNC after President Trump’s victory in 2016, helping Democrats recapture the House in 2018, maintaining peace between party factions and leaving the DNC in good financial shape.
Harrison will be formally elected next Thursday, January 21st, when the DNC will hold its Winter Meeting. The annual meeting will be held practically this time amid the coronavirus pandemic. The election will take place the day after Biden takes office as president. And while DNC committee members vote for the presidency, the real decision maker in the process was Biden, who is now the leader of the Democratic Party.
One of Harrison’s jobs as president of the DNC will be fundraising. Harrison raised more than $ 130 million last year in his Senate candidacy, with his $ 57 million fundraiser in the third quarter breaking the previous Senate race record in a single quarter. Harrison ended up losing the election to Graham by 10 points.
Harrison will also be tasked with leading the national party during the 2022 elections, while Democrats will try to maintain their fragile majority in the House and expand their razor thin majority in the Senate. And he will have the difficult task of maintaining peace between the Democratic Party’s progressive and moderate wings.
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The New York Times was the first to report on Biden’s choice of Harrison as president of the DNC.
Biden and his campaign worked extremely closely with the DNC during the 2020 election, with officials from both organizations coordinating outreach and outreach votes and messages. It is a sign of hope going forward.
After President Barack Obama’s victory in the White House in 2008, the DNC was often treated as a backward organization when Obama created Organizing for America, a separate political group with competing functions.
Biden hopes to avoid the fate of Obama in 2010 and Trump in 2018, as both suffered serious setbacks in their first midterm elections for their presidencies.
Republican National Committee President Ronna McDaniel takes the stage in an empty Mellon Auditorium while speaking at the Republican National Convention at the Mellon Auditorium on August 24, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images)
The president of the National Republican Committee (RNC), Ronna McDaniel, was unanimously re-elected for a third two-year term at the RNC.
McDaniel had the support of President Trump, as well as Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, and House minority leader Kevin McCarthy, the two main Republicans in Congress.