DNC Vote Approaches With The Party As Divided As Ever

With just four days until DNC members vote on who will become the next DNC Chairman, the vote is as chaotic and splintered as when the race first started. Last week former Labor Secretary Tom Perez claimed that he was approaching a majority on the first ballot. Since that time, nothing has gone right for Perez.

Now fresh reports are contradicting Perez’s claim that he had a clear lead in the voting. The Hill stated today that Ellison, not Perez, is leading the DNC race, and it’s not close. According to The Hill, Ellison has 105 committed votes to Perez’s paltry 57.

One big problem for the purported frontrunner Perez is that while he is the clear favorite of the Democratic establishment, he’s not alone in finding their favor. Today South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg announced that he had secured the support another former DNC Chairman, this time Howard Dean. In his endorsement, Dean managed a shot at both Perez and Ellison, saying they came from the “political sphere of Washington”:

“Dean, who was himself the DNC chair from 2005-2009, told MSNBC’s ‘Morning Joe’ that he is backing Buttigieg because the Democratic Party desperately needs an infusion of young blood from outside the political sphere of Washington. The Indiana mayor perfectly fits the bill, Dean said.”

On Saturday, the Democratic National Committee will elect a new chairman. Yet as the bedlam of the race in the final days shows, they clearly still haven’t found a candidate who can transcend his own faction and unify the struggling party.