Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez said the Democratic Party is considering revoking Iowa’s first-in-nation caucus status following last week’s delayed election results.
During a Sunday interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper, Perez said the party is going to reexamine the state’s status after the current election cycle, just as it amended the presence of super delegates after the 2016 presidential election.
“That’s the conversation that will absolutely happen after this election cycle,” Perez said, later continuing, “I have no doubt about it. Because it’s very necessary.”
Perez took some responsibility for the Iowa Democratic Party after the state’s caucus results were delayed because of glitches with an app. Pete Buttigieg eventually took home a razor-thin win.
“They gave us assurances that it was gonna work. It didn’t work,” Perez said, while later noting the state party did not sufficiently test the app. “Our partnership with our state parties — anytime something goes wrong, whether it’s something that’s run by the state party or not, we’re all in this together.”
.@jaketapper: “Is Iowa about to lose their first-in-the-nation caucus status?”
DNC Chair Tom Perez: “Well, that’s the conversation that will absolutely happen after this election cycle” https://t.co/KHdSVpS1Eh #CNNSOTU pic.twitter.com/xgaGtZlce7
— State of the Union (@CNNSotu) February 9, 2020
Some Democrats, including 2020 candidate Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, have called for the DNC chairman’s resignation after Perez cast doubt on the results of the Iowa caucuses, more than two days after a botched rollout of the results.
“Enough is enough. In light of the problems that have emerged in the implementation of the delegate selection plan and in order to assure public confidence in the results,” he tweeted Thursday. “I am calling on the Iowa Democratic Party to immediately begin a recanvass.”
Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar, among others, said, “Tom Perez should be held accountable for this failure.” However, the chairman said he is “absolutely not” going to resign.
