Who Is Tom Perez? Labor Secretary And DNC Chair Hopeful Throws Hat In The Ring For Democratic National Committee

Labor Secretary Thomas Perez declared his intentions to run for chair of the Democratic National Committee on Thursday, joining Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minnesota), former Vermont Gov. and DNC chair from 2005 to 2009 Howard Dean and South Carolina Democratic Party head Jaime Harrison in the race for top party leadership.

The former assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division highlighted his Dominican heritage, socioeconomic roots and history of social justice advocacy in making his announcement.

“After putting myself through college with Pell Grants and working on the back of a garbage truck, I passed up offers to join white-shoe law firms,” he wrote, touting his track record at the Justice Department.

Perez, a Buffalo, New York, native and graduate of Brown University and Harvard University’s Law School, characterized his run for DNC chair as another courtroom fight — only this time it was against the Republican presidential election victor.

“Like so many of you, I also worked tirelessly to stop Donald Trump from becoming president, and my world was turned upside down on Election Day,” he wrote. “We fell short. But I learned as a civil rights lawyer that when you fall down, you have to get back up stronger. That’s exactly what we need to do as Democrats, because there are too many people counting on us to do anything less.”

Prior to his 2009 appointment as leader of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights team, where he worked in various positions between 1988 and 1999, Perez worked in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights, presided over the Montgomery County Council in Maryland and served as the state’s secretary of labor, licensing and regulation. President Barack Obama nominated him as Labor Secretary in July 2013. His job as Montgomery Council President, between 2004 and 2005, marked his latest elected position.

More recently, Perez was bypassed as a vice presidential pick for Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, losing the bid to Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Virginia).