As i said earlier today, i want to thank the Maryland Democratic party, the eastern caucus of the d. N. C. For hosting us. The mayor of baltimore. Tom. For her hospitality. And i want to thank all my colleagues on the d. N. C. And all our special guests in the audience. Once again, dnc members will able to talk to the candidates, have a dialogue. For those who are a special guest, we have, as you know, these forms. Fill them out. We have been bringing the questions up to april. April ryan, to interact with the candidates so please fill them out. We have one who will be walking around. Take your seats. There are many people who would like to get into the auditorium and wed like them to come in as well. So were ready to get started. It is my honor to bring back to the state, a veteran journalist, White House Correspondent for the american urban radio network, and author as i mentioned earlier today, author of a brandnew book, at mommas knee. Msnbc chris matthews. Im giving april applaud because this is a great book. I promise you, she will autograph it. So april ryan, thank you for doing a tremendous job today. April thank you, donna. She says she is going fishing after all this is over with. I see how the democrats do it now. Wow. This is an allday session. Having gotten a lot of information thus far . It is very interesting. Some people came up earlier asking for the public, if they could ask questions. That is why they are handing out those in the aisle handing out the question forms, please raise your hand. That is where your questions will be addressed. You get those forms and we will get them and hopefully answer your question. Those in the dnc will be in the will be able to ask questions and write them out. At this time, this is the moment you have been waiting for. We have a change coming. This is the chair Candidate Forum for the dnc, no opening statements, the candidates have a maximum of two minutes to answer questions, which will be timed by the clock in front of me. Candidates, when that red light goes, i am going to cut you off. All candidates will be given the opportunity to have a oneminute closing statement. And with that, lets welcome to the stage, sally brown. Jamie harrison. Tom perez. [applause] jehmu greene. Sam ronin. Ray buckley. Obert vin sen braunum. Peter patarsky. And keith ellison. Give them a round of applause. [applause] this is a raucous bunch in here now. Welcome, you guys, to the main act. We thank you for coming. I will start off with a question from patricia. If you dont win, are you committed to working with the winner to further the causes of the Democratic Party . To harness all the great ideas brought forth today . I will start with you, sally. Ms. Brown absolutely. My blueprint that you can find on my website highlights how i would put the work any democrat in the country, and obviously any person that steps up to lead, we want to help them lead. That is the very nature of the new power system i advocate for, so i would ask every single one of my colleagues to look at those workgroups and pick the ones they think they can be passionate about and get to work right away. We have some amazing talent in ur country and it is only when we bring a Diverse Group of thinkers together to solve the problems and to do the work ahead of us, that i really believe we can move forward. We have a lot of work to do. And it is so important that anybody who wants to take part in it and put their brain behind it and their muscle behind it, has the chance to get to work. I made a commitment to myself on wednesday morning when i woke up after the election, to ake the ideas of anybody under the age of 35, and we have some folks on the under of 35 on this stage, luckily, and put those ideas into action and help them with support and services and resources they need to do that. And i was grateful that we have two teenage Young High School students that came after i made that oath, so i could put into practice those words and put them into action. Those two High School Students organized the womens march in our state and we had 5,000 people in idaho show up in the snow to march on january 21. It was amazing how i could sit down with two young women, who somebody might have hit delete on the keyboard and not respond to them. In just 30 minutes of my time, i was able to help them get the resources they needed, the media lists, the email lists to be able to do something amazing like that. April thank you. Jamie harrison. Mr. Harrison thank you for being here. This is a tremendous honor. In short answer, yes, i am committed to this. I remember when i first decided to run for chair of the South CarolinaDemocratic Party. One of our prominent democrats said, why would you do that . Its a thankless job. I said, i am who i am because of this party. It was because of all of the people in this party that decided to give a roundheaded boy from South Carolina a chance, an opportunity to be more than he ever thought he could be. So the commitment to this party is one that does not wane because you do not get a position. It is one that is lifetime. It is one that is intertwined into who i am as a person. The day after the election, when we all woke up and realized that very soon we were going to have a despot as a president. For me, i was sad, not only sad because Hillary Clinton lost, but i was sad because of the world that my 2yearold would have to grow up in. This is more than just a position, it is more than just a job, this is about our country. This is about the fight to make sure that there is opportunity or all, despite how you grew up, despite what you look like, despite who you love, despite who you praise as your lord and savior. This is about making sure that this is the land of freedom and so, am i committed to the Democratic Party . You damn right i am, and we will fight every bit to make sure we be that loyal resistance, that opposition, to make sure that we get change in this country. April thank you. [applause] now tom perez. Secretary perez good afternoon, everyone. Its great to be here in charm city and its great to be here. April clock, please. Thank you. Secretary perez its great to be here in charm city where i had the privilege of working here for part of the decade. Baltimore is a remarkable town. Its a resilient town like the town i grew up in buffalo. The answer is of course. We are all in this together. We are only a few weeks removed, it seems like decades removed from barack obama. I miss barack obama a lot, my friends. [applause] and you know what, what we have seen in these short weeks is nothing less than carnage and chaos, every ingle day. The raids on immigrants are things that tear my heart apart. The decision by the court of appeals which said to the president , you know what, folks, mr. President , you need to read the constitution before you start doing things. We see it every single day. The assault on our democracy. And we are in this together. This is a remarkably committed group of folks. If people are looking for whose hands are bigger, you are not whose anatomy parts are bigger, you are not going to find it here today. You will find a discussion about how we build a Democratic Party that works for everyone. That is what we are talking about. And here is what i think about that. We need to focus our energies on the basics, organizing, organizing, organizing. We got to make sure we build those strong parties in all of the 50 states, the seven territories and the district of columbia. We have to be fighting for d. C. Statehood. We got to be making sure that everybody has a seat at the table in this process. And we do so by making sure we are out there listening to people, making house calls like i did in northern wisconsin and in kansas this week. And when we do that we learn that when we organize, when we engage, when we partner with our friends in the movement, the labor movement, planned parenthood and others, we are stronger when we are partners. And when we change the culture of the d. N. C. To make sure that were not just electing a president but were electing people from the school board to the senate everywhere, thats how we win as democrats. April thank you. [applause] the answer is yes and i think the answer will be the same for everyone on this table because i dont have the luxury to sit out of this unique moment that we are facing as the Democratic Party and no one in this room has the luxury luxury to sit out at this moment we are facing as a party. And to assess how we innovate, how we organize, how we experiment and how we engage in new and exciting ways. I think this moment is bigger than just what has happened in the 2016 election. There is a lot of conversation bout transformation. Transformation does not come easy. Transformation is not going to happen if every Single Person on this table does not remain engaged in this process. Transformation is not going to happen if everyone in this room does not remain engaged in this process. Transformation requires willingness, it requires radical candor, and it requires trong change management. And my position in this race and what would continue, no matter what the outcome is, is that we have this opportunity, this unique moment to transform our party. To make sure that we also ask ourselves very tough questions, how do we strengthen our home to be a welcoming place for the resistance . Ow do we reimagine and restructure our processes, how do we rebuild, how do we rebrand and how do we reengage . So thats a conversation that cannot end today and thats a conversation that we all have to participate in, no matter what side youre on. That is a conversation we must have as a family. April thank you. [applause] so, i believe the question was, would i be willing to work with these great men and women should one of them become the next chair . The short answer is yes. I dont remember being released from my oath. I plan on continuing to serve my country and defending the constitution of the United States. Thank you. [applause] april ok. Wade buckley . Mr. Buckley do i get the remainder of his time . April no. [laughter] thank you, sir. Mr. Buckley thank you. I do not think there is a person watching this or reading this that doubts for one moment that ray buckley will be standing by the next chair of the d. N. C. Because thats my entire life. I started volunteering when i was 8 years old. 8 years old. I never missed an election because because i believe in the Democratic Party, we are the only hope for the working people of this country. I do not think the question is where i will be, what i have said is immediately upon my election i am going to ask every one of these people join me backstage along with the null elected officers and we will sit together and we will divide the work. Because that is the problem we have had in this party, it is the chair and a few staff, it has not been this group. I know, for the last eight years i have been vice chair and i dont know what the hell is going on in this party any more than you. [laughter] let me tell you, when i am elected chair, every officer of the party will be involved, every member of the executive committee will be involved, every Single Member of the d. N. C. Is finally going to be involved, and every state community member, and every local community member, and every ally, activists, volunteer, and elected official. Because if we do not do it together, we will keep repeating the same damn thing over and over, and that is called losing. I know about losing because when i grew up in New Hampshire, it was a republican state. The last 10 years we have won 11 of the last 13 elections, folks. If you look at the turnout results in New Hampshire and across a lot of the country where it really sucked in a lot of states, New Hampshire had an increase in turnout. 2016, same thing. You want to win elections, you elect the guy that can win elections. I love all these people. Theyre terrific. Nobody can match my record. April thank you, sir. Ray buckley. [applause] good evening. To the question, i am from d. C. And im proud of it. I am for statehood and we need it. And it would help the Democratic Party. And theres one thing that all of you should know who want an outsider, im your man. Mr. Brannum im from d. C. But im the outside on this panel. So yes, i will work with whoever is elected, and hopefully we will walk out of here together as democrats to get to grow thethank you. Party. April thank you. [applause] robert . My name is pete. April sorry. Pete, yes. Yes, pete [applause] thats your campaign slogan, my ame is pete. Mayor buttigieg you can call me whatever you like. Thank you for moderating. Thanks, everybody, for the opportunity. Short answer, of course is yes. The longer answer is, we have got to emerge from this process as a unified Democratic Party, because we know what we are up against and it is not each other. [applause] the truth is, even had we won the white house in 2016, our party would be in trouble. You look where we are in the state houses, in the statewide constitutional offices, you look where we are in congress and our party has a lot of work to do and theres no way we can do it if we are not ue find. If we dont have the humility to recognize that everyone up here brings a difference to the table and everyone has something to offer and i dont mean those competing for chair. I mean every one of the members of the d. N. C. And every one of the millions of the Democratic Party. E have got to engaged. [applause] mayor buttigieg i think the chair would be me, of course, and i will tell you why. Among all the good democrats were saying largely similar things. The question is who is best positioned to deliver what each of us is saying needs to be done. My argument is if were going to reach a new generation of organizers, why not put in a new generation of leaders . [applause] if we are going to recognize the importance of the grassroots, why not put in the candidate that was at the womans womens march, who led the way from the houston airport protests, whose volunteers have been out walking in delaware in a special election that will ecide the balance in the senate . [applause] mayor buttigieg why not go with somebody who is not the product of one faction, but somebody that can deliver the fresh start that our party needs . If we recognize that the answers are going to come from our local communities, put in a local organizer, a local mayor that has been running and winning elections in one of the reddest states in america. Deliver results to the Democratic Party. [applause] april thank you. Peter, youre next. Peter, youre next, go. You can go. Peter yes, my name is peter. My website is peterfordnc. Com. I plan to continue to support the goals of the Democratic Party and the Democratic Party regardless of who wins the election for chair. Im doing my best to make sure that person is me. I think we all have to agree that we need to organize this party locally. There are a lot of changes that need to be made, both in the organization and the way that the dnc functions. Whether it is more openness, whether it is being impartial or evenhanded as our charter requires. In conducting the nomination process for president in 2020. Whether it is informing the members of the dnc of the past profit and loss statement and the future budget of the dnc, which i think should happen. And i expect members will keep those documents secure. Whether it is protecting the data at the d. N. C. , so all of our donors are not subjected to Identity Theft because the dnc did not properly handle their data. There are a lot of things that have to happen. We have to listen to what is going on in the states. The states and localities best know whats going on in this country. For example, next week i plan on being in wyoming speaking to the wyoming state party about and discussing with them what their goals are for the coming year. Hopefully, we will be able to help them meet those goals. I plan to help raise funds and i plan to continue my work in Election Protection. Ive done a lot of that over the years from the start of the registration process through the point where we count the electoral votes. That process, the process of voting is the only legit mate means by which the power legitimate means by which the power to govern is transferred in this country. It is time we protect all of it. I thank you for your votes. April thank you. Keith ellison. Thank you. [cheering] mr. Ellison you know, fellow democrats, i am here to serve whether im the chair or not. So the answer is clearly yes. I would be happy to serve. If you need me to go talk to state parties around the country, ill do it. Ive been to 28 of them in the last 10 years. Ive been to nebraska, new jersey. Hey, mr. Chairman. I went to georgia. I will do whatever you need me to do and you are the chair and i am not. I helped raise 1 million to my state party. If you need me, which every one of you yall decides i will be chair, i will help do that. I have given millions to candidates across the country. If you need me to get down with the grassroots, i will be happy to do that. Earlier today some young people brought up 750,000 signatures on a petition supporting me for dnc chair. [applause] if you need me to get with the grassroots because, yeah, i was proud to be i have led and organized literally hundreds of rallies all over. I was at the airport rally the other day. I have was at a rally this morning. We will help with these elections that we need to win. Whatever it is you need me to do, i will do it because it is everybodys job to make the American People know deep in heir hearts that the Democratic Party is here to fight for them every single day. The Democratic Party is here to make sure they have prosperity for their families. Thats why the aflcio supports me, steelworkers support me, insures support me, the teachers support me, thats why the communication workers support me. Thats why dreaks for america and move on supp