Congressional Black Caucus members aren’t happy with Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez, taking a symbolic vote Wednesday voicing their displeasure with his leadership of the party.
Members passed a measure inside their caucus stating they have “no confidence” in Perez as DNC chair. Black Caucus members remain upset with how Perez handled the historic August vote to strip superdelegates of their power during the party’s presidential nominating process. The changes block superdelegates — elected officials and party leaders — from casting a vote for any presidential candidate unless a second ballot is required at the 2020 national convention.
Congressional Black Caucus Chairman Cedric Richmond, D-La., confirmed to the Washington Examiner that the vote passed for a “combination of reasons,” but the primary reason was the superdelegate reforms adopted by the DNC earlier this year. Perez took over the DNC in early 2017.
“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 Black congressional members. “It’s one of the things with being a party leader.”
“Our members were just not happy,” Richmond added. "It's not a motion saying he needs to go, it's a motion expressing real concern about where we are."
The superdelegate reforms, supported by both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders supporters, dramatically changed the way the party picks its presidential nominee. In the lead up to the August vote, Richmond sent a letter on behalf of the Black Caucus expressing opposition to the changes.
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