US Democrats delay vote as Muslim in lead for top spot

Sanders hasn’t taken a position on Brazile, but he’s actively campaigning for Rep. Keith Ellison, co-chairman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, and one of two Muslims in the House, to lead the DNC.

Last Tuesday, Rep. Ellison won re-election in Minnesota’s 5th Congressional District.

Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Elizabeth Warren of MA – two of the Democratic Party’s top voices on progressive issues – have endorsed Minnesota Rep. Keith Ellison’s bid for DNC chairman.

Ellison has since been endorsed by Senate heavyweights like outgoing minority leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), his successor, Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).

The Democratic National Committee needs a new leader, and many think Keith Ellison is the right person for the job.

Ellison also said “no way in the world” is Trump, the Republican presidential nominee who upset Clinton, a “champion of working people”.

Dean, who is running to be DNC chairman, said he respects Ellison, but it is hard to be both a congressman and chairman of the party. “I’m hearing from all over, from congressmen and party leaders that want to see a Hispanic jump in to see what he or she brings to the table”, Texas Democratic Party chairman Gilberto Hinojosa said. Dean served as the DNC chair from 2005 to 2009 and has been arguing that Ellison cannot effectively run the DNC and be an active member of Congress, reports Politico.

Still reeling from a devastating defeat in last week’s election, Democrats are beginning the process of charting the direction of their party in the Donald Trump era. “They should be our focus”, Ellison said.

The Democratic National Committee is now headed by Acting Chair Donna Brazile, who stepped in just before the party convention in July when then-Chair Florida Rep. Bernie Sanders in the Democratic presidential primary, a race the Vermont senator ultimately lost to Clinton. Though Ellison is the favorite, Dean could be a formidable foe, since as the architect of the “50-state strategy” he is remembered fondly in lots of places Democrats take for granted-either as reliably blue or impossibly red.

On NBC’s “Meet the Press” Sunday, Sen.

“The problem is if I win, the map is going to look like the Hillary versus Bernie primary contest, and that’s not good”, Dean said.

Wasserman Schultz, who continued to serve in Congress during her DNC tenure, was driven from the position after a trove of hacked emails showed favoritism among DNC staff for Clinton over Sen.