DNC Chair Tom Perez published this post on Medium on May 9. His post is reproduced below.
With a historic number of Democratic presidential candidates competing for the nomination and a deeply troubling Republican presidency threatening our democracy, Democratic unity has never been more important. That’s why we committed to creating a fair, transparent, and even-handed presidential primary process at the DNC early on.
Our large field of candidates is a good thing for our party. They’re talented, they’re diverse, and they present an opportunity to mobilize grassroots voters across the country like never before. And never before has it been so important for the party to support our candidates while we build the infrastructure that our eventual nominee will need to win in 2020.
Thanks to the incredible support of voters, activists, and organizers around the country, this work is well under way at the DNC. No matter who our nominee is, he or she will be in a much stronger position because of it. We’ve already made critical upgrades to our data and technology infrastructure like our new Data Warehouse, put organizers on the ground in key battleground states through innovative programs like Organizing Corps 2020, and invested in our DNC War Room. And we’re just getting started. [Note: Arizona is one of those battleground states with Organizing Corps at work beginning this summer.]
All across the country, our candidates are talking about the issues keeping Americans up at night — expanding access to health care, raising wages, protecting our environment, building an economy that works for everyone, and ending the culture of corruption that Donald Trump brought to the White House. These conversations are critical to moving our country forward. But one thing is clear: We must never confuse unity with unanimity. While Democrats may offer different visions for the future, we all share the same values of inclusion and opportunity for everyone. And we know that there is so much more that unites us as Democrats than what divides us. [Emphasis added.]
Nothing unites us more than our shared commitment to beating Trump, and doing the work now to lay the groundwork for victory. Beginning later this month, the DNC will be sending emails from our candidates reinforcing that message — you can sign up to get those emails here. Our candidates will be attending signature DNC events, and standing together with the DNC to help build the infrastructure our nominee will need to win.
This doesn’t mean we’re breaking our pledge to stay neutral during the primary — to the contrary, we’ve asked each candidate to make the same commitment, so they’ll be sending the same number of emails, participating in the same number of events once they acquire the national voter file.
This does mean collecting better data to target voters and communicate our message. It means making robust investments in local community organizers and modernizing our technology and cybersecurity infrastructure. It means recruiting more volunteers, strengthening our voter protection programs, and identifying more supporters to inspire. And it means that no matter who our nominee is, they’ll start out on a stronger footing. What’s more, every candidate has agreed to run as a Democrat — a reminder that no matter who wins, we’re all Democrats, and we are fighting for our democracy.
When I ran for DNC chair a little more than two years ago, I said that our unity would be our greatest strength and Donald Trump’s worst nightmare. Those words are as true today as they’ve ever been.
Tom Perez, 2020 Democrats Unite, Medium
We have a terrific slate of candidates, but we know that only one will make it to the mountaintop. By standing together as Democrats, I’m confident we will lift them to victory next November.
We’re working hard in Coconino County to elect Democrats up and down the ballot. We have scores of volunteers in training to be the very best at inspiring voters to get to the polls in 2020. Help us build the local infrastructure we need to flip the Legislature and send a Democrat to the White House and to replace Martha McSally in the U.S. Senate. Donate locally to build our local infrastructure to win.
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