Democratic Party to choose new chair day after Biden inauguration

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The Democratic National Committee (DNC) will formally choose its new chair the day after President-elect Joe Biden is inaugurated.

The national party will hold its Winter Meeting on Jan. 21, Fox News confirmed. And the annual gathering will be held virtually this time amid the coronavirus pandemic.

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At the top of the agenda at the confab will be electing the national party’s new leadership. Outgoing DNC Chair Tom Perez long ago said he would not bid to serve another four-year term.

While DNC committee members will vote for the chair, the real decision maker in the process is Biden, who now as president-elect is leader of the Democratic Party.

"It’s ultimately President Biden’s choice," longtime New Hampshire Democratic Party chair and former DNC vice chair Ray Buckley told Fox News.

Biden – at least publicly – has yet to make his views known on whom he’d like to see steering the national party.

Democratic Senate candidate Jaime Harrison addresses supporters at a drive-in rally on Oct. 17, 2020, in North Charleston, S.C. (Cameron Pollack/Getty Images)

There are no official candidates yet, but attention is falling on former South Carolina Democratic Senate nominee Jaime Harrison. The former state party chair told the Washington Post last month that "if that's something that they are interested in me doing, I'll definitely take a good look." 

Harrison grabbed national attention this year as he shattered Senate fundraising records in his unsuccessful bid to oust longtime Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a strong ally of President Trump.

Harrison ended up losing to Graham by 10 points.

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"Jaime really fits the bill. You’re not hearing a lot of pushback on the idea of Jaime because he’s so well known. He did a fantastic job as state chair and has done a great job as an associate chair of the DNC the last four years," noted Buckley.

Buckley, who for years served as president of the Association of State Democratic Chairs, highlighted that Harrison "certainly understands and appreciates the value of a strong state party. His commitment to building the party from the grassroots up is sincere. He’s been there and that’s something that’s important to a lot of us, that someone with state and local experience the national party."

Harrison, as well as Buckley and then-South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg, among others, ran for DNC chair four years ago in a contest ultimately won by Perez, who had served as assistant attorney general for civil rights and secretary of labor in President Barack Obama’s administration. Harrison is also close with a top Biden ally – Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina, the number- three House Democrat. Harrison once worked as a top Clyburn aide in the House.

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Republican National Committee (RNC) chair Ronna McDaniel is well on the way to winning another term steering the GOP.

McDaniel has the backing of Trump as well as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, the top two Republicans in Congress. And McDaniel is supported by a strong majority of RNC committee members, who will vote for the next chair when the national party holds its Winter Meeting in person in Amelia Island, Fla., Jan. 6-8.

NBC News was first to report on the date of the DNC’s winter meeting.