Democrats' new chair on electoral errors: 'We ignored rural swaths of America'

The new chair of the Democratic National Committee acknowledged the party created blunders in its past election approach and has function ahead to win extra seats at all levels of government. “We didn't invest sufficient in our state party infrastructure,”...

Democrats' new chair on electoral errors: 'We ignored rural swaths of America'

The new chair of the Democratic National Committee acknowledged the party created blunders in its past election approach and has function ahead to win extra seats at all levels of government.

“We didn't invest sufficient in our state party infrastructure,” newly-elected DNC Chair Tom Perez told ABC News chief anchor George Stephanopoulos on “This Week” Sunday. “We did not invest adequate in grassroots organizing. We ignored rural swaths of America.”

“We need to have an every single zip code strategy. We will need to redefine the role of the DNC so that we're assisting to elect individuals from the school board to the Senate,” Perez added.

The former Obama administration labor secretary was elected as the Democratic National Committee’s new chair on Saturday immediately after a close race against the other leading contender, Minnesota Congressman Keith Ellison. Perez won by 235 to 200 on a second round of voting following none of the candidates received the majority of votes on the 1st ballot.

In a show of unity, Perez instantly immediately after his election named Ellison as deputy chair, and the two stood with each other at the podium. Numerous in the progressive wing of the Democratic Celebration had backed Ellison, who was an early supporter of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders in the 2016 presidential principal, and who was backed by Sanders to lead the DNC. Ellison was also endorsed by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren.

Stephanopoulos asked about apparent discord at the DNC meeting with some protest chants soon after Perez won, and Sanders' statement later that it was “imperative that Tom understands that the exact same-old, exact same-old is not working and that we must open the doors of the party to operating folks and young people today in a way that has under no circumstances been accomplished ahead of.”

Perez responded that “Congressman Ellison and I are united, and our values our identical ... We want to make confident that every person has a fair shake. These are items that Donald Trump is fighting against."

“Our Democratic unity is Donald Trump's worst nightmare,” Perez said. "When we lead with our values, we win. And that is what we're going to do."

The new DNC chair added, "There is such an electrical energy out there across America, and it really is not just the conventional activists ... Congressman Ellison has been spectacular at tapping into that grassroots advocacy. And we're working with each other to translate this activism into outcomes.”

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