Democratic National Committee chairman Tom Perez is confident the party will hold on to the Virginia governorship, but with the race closer than national Democrats would like, he tried to downplay any fallout if Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam loses.
“Virginia has a history of close races,” Perez said. “It’s a state where you’re always going to have close statewide elections, and this is no different.”
Perez pointed to other races within the Virginia House of delegates as an example of the “new DNC” which is focused on tickets up and down the ballot.
“Virginia is one race we’re focused on, but it’s not the only race we’re focused on,” Perez added, referring to Northam’s bid. “We don’t put our hopes on any one state at any one time — we’re investing everywhere.”
Still, at the start of his sit-down with reporters, Perez opened by touting the new infrastructure the DNC is building to become a majority party again, and called the New Jersey and Virginia gubernatorial races the “biggest prizes of 2017.”
A recent poll gave Northam a 17-point lead over Republican Ed Gillespie, though other surveys have the race closer. It’s too early to tell whether a loss or win in Virginia will be indicative of where Democrats are headed in 2018, but a loss is sure to create more infighting. It will also raise doubts about the power of the DNC’s purse.
The DNC threw $1.5 million at the race in July and has continued to spend. In September, it’s debt was nearly double the amount in its reserves, the Washington Post reported. Coming out of their fall meeting in Las Vegas, state party chairs were alarmed with the DNC’s finances.
Perez dismissed reports that the DNC is struggling to fundraise.
“If you look at the fundraising going back to the 2003, 2005 in these off-year cycles we are exactly where we have been in just about every cycle,” Perez said.
