DNC chief: Democrats will rebound in 2018
Even as he tried to strike an optimistic tone, the head of the Democratic National Committee acknowledged Friday to labor leaders in Houston that both the party and unions are facing a daunting task ahead of them.
“It is undeniable that this is the most challenging stress test, perhaps … in my lifetime and one of the most challenging stress tests in the history of our democracy,” said Tom Perez, the new chairman of the national committee.
The Texas Legislature and Gov. Greg Abbott are going after unions again in an upcoming special session, Democrats struck out in their efforts to pick up seats in Congress earlier this week, and U.S. Senate Republicans unveiled a health care plan yesterday that many see as a direct assault on former President Barack Obama’s signature accomplishment.
But Perez, a former secretary of labor, told the Texas AFL-CIO Convention at the Hilton AmericasHouston that even though the sense of urgency is heightened, he still “absolutely” believes Democrats — with help from organized labor — will retake the U.S. House in 2018.
And he said past legal fights with Abbott show his latest “mean spirited” proposals on so-called sanctuary cities can be stopped in Texas.
‘I fought with him’
Perez reminded a ballroom with hundreds of union leaders that he was an attorney in Obama’s Department of Justice in 2011 and was assigned to fight Texas and its strict voter identification laws. Abbott then was Texas’ attorney general.
“Your governor is no better; I fought with him when I was at the Justice Department,” Perez said, explaining how he helped block key parts of Texas’ ID laws.
Perez’s comments come as Houston and other Texas cities have joined a lawsuit in opposition of a new law that would allow police to question people about their immigration status during routine stops and threatens to punish law enforcement officials who refuse federal immigration holds.
Perez said the DOJ successfully fought similar proposed laws in Arizona and are working with Texas Democrats to help make sure the law here also gets tossed by the courts.
“I’m confident the same thing will happen here,” Perez told the Houston Chronicle in an interview after his speech. “Texas is going to waste a lot of money on legal fees that they could be investing in workers and other opportunities.”
Downplays losses
Perez also did his best to downplay the results from Tuesday, when Democrats lost a special election in Georgia for a U.S. House seat. The party was hoping an upset victory would show a tide turning against President Donald Trump heading into 2018. Perez said that in both the Georgia race and in South Carolina, Democrats did far better than they have in decades in those districts. Sure they didn’t win either, but Perez said Tuesday’s races showed progress.
“I know people are disappointed in the results from earlier this week,” Perez said. “We didn’t quite get to the finish line. But you know what, folks, those are beet-red districts.”
Perez said there are more than 70 other districts that are more competitive for Democrats than the Georgia race and Democrats will be aggressive in all of them. One of those districts is the 7th Congressional District based in Houston and held by Rep. John Culberson, RHouston.
Democrats need to win 25 House seats next year that are held now by Republicans to gain a majority. Perez said he is absolutely confident that will happen in 2018.
The Republican National Committee says no way.
In a statement to the Chronicle, RNC chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said the problem for Democrats in Georgia is the same as what they have going into 2018: no vision.
“Obstruction and resistance is not a vision,” McDaniel said. “It’s lost them these last four (special) elections, and it’ll continue losing them elections going forward.”
Perez also used his speech to stress that the Democrats are committed to fighting for organized labor. He recounted growing up in a union household in Buffalo, N.Y., and said history shows that the middle class has been healthiest when unions were at their strongest.
“The health of the middle class and the health of the labor movement go hand and hand,” he said.
Union resistance
He said in politics there are a lot of twists and turns, but that the DNC remains committed to helping labor.
“The Democratic Party will always be there with you,” Perez said.
Texas AFL-CIO president John Patrick said the recently completed legislative session was the “most miserable” he’s ever experience but ticked off examples where unions beat back attempts to go after their memberships.
“Unions are at the core of the mighty resistance here in Texas,” Patrick said.