The Democratic National Committee elected Jaime Harrison, of South Carolina, as its new president on Thursday. Harrison was President Biden’s choice to lead the Democratic Party.
Harrison, 44, previously served as president of the Democratic Party of South Carolina and was a senior official at the DNC. He is close to the majority leader in the House, Jim Clyburn, another Democrat from South Carolina, for whom he once worked. Biden’s fortunes in the Democratic primaries changed after he secured Clyburn’s endorsement, helping him to a landslide victory in the South Carolina primaries.
In his comments to Democratic leaders, Harrison thanked DNC President Tom Perez and other party officials. He promised to keep pace.
“We are all part of a movement that you all started and we are not even close to ending,” said Harrison. “I have no intention of allowing victory to become complacency, because we saw what happens when we don’t invest everywhere.”
As president of the DNC, Harrison will be responsible for leading the party for the next four years, including trying to maintain and increase the Democratic majority in Congress during the 2022 mid-term elections. Historically, an incumbent president’s party has lost seats in Congress during the first half-term cycle and Democrats now have a very small majority in both houses.
Harrison said Democrats must be active across the United States to be successful.
“We finished looking at the map, ignoring the red while focusing on some purple areas,” said Harrison. “We have just focused on our cities, forgetting those who live on dirt roads. When I look at the map, I see an entire country at stake ”
Harrison showed his skill in fundraising during his campaign for the Senate. He raised more than $ 132 million in his bid to oust Graham, making him one of the best-funded Congressional candidates in history. Graham, however, still won the election by about 10 points.
The other Democratic leaders elected to senior positions in the party include three women who have already been placed on Biden’s list of vice presidential candidates: Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, who will be vice president of civic engagement and electoral protection, Michigan . Governor Gretchen Whitmer, who will be the vice president, and Illinois senator Tammy Duckworth, who will also be the vice president. Texas representative Filemon Vela Jr. will also serve as vice president. Jason Rae will be the secretary of the DNC, Virginia McGregor will be the treasurer and Chris Korge will be the president of national finance. Harrison and the list of officers, who were also selected by Mr. Biden, passed a vote of 407 votes in favor.
Perez gave Harrison his full support, saying he hopes the new chair will take the Democratic Party to “heights”.
When Perez took over in 2017, Democrats had just lost the White House and were a minority in both chambers of Congress. During his tenure, Democrats won the House in 2018 and then won the White House and Senate in 2020.
“I am very proud to have been part of this continuous movement with all of you,” said Perez. “I will always be fighting for the values of this party.”
President Biden offered his congratulations to Harrison in a taped message and said the party will work to recreate the “broadest and most diverse coalition” that helped him win the presidential election. Vice President Harris joined the meeting and said Democrats are “very lucky” to have Harrison at the head of the party.
Also on Thursday, the chairman of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, Ken Martin, was re-elected to serve as chairman of the Association of State Democratic Committees. And the DNC has announced that DNC vice-president Sam Cornale will become the party’s executive director.