The Congressional Black Caucus has apparently lost faith in Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chairman Tom Perez. Caucus members indicated in a vote Wednesday that they have “no confidence” in the DNC boss.
For the group, the credibility gap is reportedly centered around Perez’s support for a significant reform to the party’s superdelegate process that has traditionally allowed Democrats elected to the House of Representatives and Senate, as well as party executives, to help choose a party candidate for president. Now, these superdelegates will only be able to vote if a second ballot is needed to secure a nomination. The decision was seen as a victory for Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and other non-establishment candidates. (RELATED: Bernie Sanders Speaks Out Against ‘Superdelegate’ System That Made Clinton In 2016)
Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chairman Tom Perez delivers remarks to the media as a variety of protestors come together attending a demonstration in front of the White House in Washington, DC on June 1, 2017. (Photo: PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP/Getty Images)
Democratic Rep. Cedric Richmond of Louisiana, who chairs the Black Caucus, told the Washington Examiner that the non-confidence vote was due to a “combination of reasons,” but admitted that the superdelegate reform was the most important of those reasons.
House Judiciary Committee member Rep. Cedric Richmond questions Internal Revenue Service Commissioner John Koskinen during a hearing in the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill Sept. 21, 2016 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
“I think just a lack of respect for our members — you know during the Hillary [Clinton] race if we went to 300 places for Congress, we went to 400-500 places for Hillary,” Richmond said of his colleagues. “It’s one of the things with being a party leader.”
“Our members were just not happy,” Richmond told the Examiner. “It’s not a motion saying he needs to go, it’s a motion expressing real concern about where we are.”
Before the decision was made to change the superdelegate process, Richmond sent a letter to Perez noting the opposition of the Black Caucus to the proposed reforms.
The Black Caucus has not been bereft of controversy over the years. In February, its members refused to denounce Louis Farrakhan, the black Muslim leader notorious for his anti-Semitic statements. (RELATE: DNC Chair: Socialist Ocasio-Cortez Is ‘Future Of Our Party’)
Republican Rep. Mia Love of Utah became the first Republican to join the group in 2015.
Perez has lent his support to Black Caucus members, stumping for Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas and Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester of Delaware, both Democrats, prior to the midterm elections. He recently hosted a conference call rally for female members of the Black Caucus.
