“If you want to change this party, you have to have leadership that looks like the people you are going to change,”
Former Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean endorsed South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg Wednesday as the next DNC chairman.
Dean, a former Vermont governor and 2004 presidential contender, praised Buttigieg for representing interests “outside the beltway.” His endorsement on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” could mark a major blow to frontrunners Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) and former Labor Secretary Tom Perez as Saturday’s election nears.
“If you want to change this party, you have to have leadership that looks like the people you are going to change,” Dean said. “Pete is organized and he’s been in an area that most people wouldn’t want to go to: Afghanistan. I think this is the only way that we are going to capture this generation and get them to align with the Democratic Party.”