Democratic leader says party, unions facing ‘challenging stress test’

By Jeremy Wallace, 

Houston Chronicle 

June 23, 2017

HOUSTON — Even as he tried to strike an optimistic tone, the head of the Democratic National Committee acknowledged Friday to labor leaders here that both the party and unions have a daunting task ahead of them.

“It is undeniable that this is the most challenging stress test, perhaps … in my lifetime and one of the most challenging stress tests in the history of our democracy,” said Tom Perez, the new chairman of the Democratic National Committee.

The Texas Legislature and Gov. Greg Abbott are going after unions again in an upcoming special session; Democrats struck out badly in their efforts to pick up seats in Congress this week; and U.S. Senate Republicans unveiled a health care plan Thursday that many see as a direct assault on former President Barack Obama’s signature accomplishment.

But Perez, a former U.S. labor secretary, told the Texas AFL-CIO Convention at the Hilton Americas-Houston that even though the sense of urgency is heightened, he still “absolutely” believes Democrats — with help from organized labor — will retake the U.S. House in 2018. And he said past legal fights with Abbott show his latest “mean-spirited” proposals on so-called sanctuary cities can be stopped in Texas.

Perez reminded the hundreds of union leaders gathered in the ballroom that he was an attorney in Obama’s Justice Department in 2011 and was assigned to fight Texas and its stricter voter identification laws. Abbott was the attorney general for Texas then.

“Your governor is no better (now); I fought with him when I was at the Justice Department,” Perez said, explaining how he helped block key parts of Texas’ ID laws.

Perez’s comments come as Texas cities, including San Antonio, have joined a lawsuit in opposition of the new law, which would allow police to question people about their immigration status during routine stops and threatens to punish law enforcement officials who refuse federal immigration holds.

Perez said the Justice Department successfully fought similar proposed laws in Arizona, and they are working with Texas Democrats to help make sure the law here also gets tossed by the courts.

“I’m confident the same thing will happen here,” Perez said in an interview after his speech. “Texas is going to waste a lot of money on legal fees that they could be investing in workers and other opportunities.”

Perez did his best to downplay the results from Tuesday, when Democrats lost a special election for a U.S. House seat in Georgia. The party was hoping an upset victory would show a tide turning against President Donald Trump heading into 2018.

Perez said in both that Georgia race and in South Carolina, Democrats did far better than they have in decades in those districts. Sure they didn’t win either, but Perez said Tuesday showed progress.

“I know people are disappointed in the results from earlier this week,” Perez said. “We didn’t quite get to the finish line. But you know what folks, those are beet-red districts.”

Perez said there are more than 70 other districts that are more competitive for Democrats than the Georgia race and Democrats will be aggressive in all of them.

Democrats need to win 25 House seats next year that are held by Republicans now. Perez said he is absolutely confident that will happen in 2018.

The Republican National Committee says no way.

In a statement, RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said the problem for Democrats in Georgia is the same as what they have going into 2018: no vision.

“Obstruction and resistance is not a vision,” McDaniel said. “It’s lost them these last four (special) elections, and it’ll continue losing them elections going forward.”

Perez also used his speech to stress that the Democratic Party is committed to fighting for organized labor. He recounted growing up in a union household in Buffalo, New York, and said history shows that the middle class has been healthiest when unions were at their strongest.

“The health of the middle class and the health of the labor movement go hand and hand,” he said.

He said in politics there are a lot of twists and turns, but he said the DNC remains committed to helping labor.

“The Democratic Party will always be there with you,” Perez said.

Texas AFL-CIO President John Patrick said the recently completed legislative session was the “most miserable” he’s ever experience but ticked off examples where unions beat back attempts to go after their memberships.

“Unions are at the core of the mighty resistance here in Texas,” Patrick said.