Former Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez announced his candidacy for the 2022 Maryland governor’s race.
Perez, who was also labor secretary during the Obama administration, launched his campaign on Wednesday, highlighting that connection during his campaign video announcement.
“My parents came here as immigrants from the Dominican Republic. I never would have dreamed in a million years that the president of the United States would have given me the opportunity to make such a difference. We did get a lot done, but there’s so much more to do,” Perez said in the video.
FORMER DNC CHAIRMAN TOM PEREZ DOESN’T THINK IOWA SHOULD BE THE NATION’S FIRST NOMINATING CONTEST
“I want to make sure I use every day of my life to give back,” he said after referencing his father’s sudden death when he was a child and his mother’s hospitalization shortly thereafter.
He also spoke about living in the same Montgomery County house for 25 years, explaining his roots within the state.
Perez, before his stint atop the DNC, spent time as a part of the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department under the Obama administration.
Maryland’s current governor, Larry Hogan, a Republican, is not able to run for reelection after serving two terms.
Democrats are looking to flip the governorship given the state went to President Joe Biden by more than 30 points during the 2020 presidential election.
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Several candidates have already thrown their hats in the ring to be the next Maryland governor.
Rushern Baker, a former Prince George’s County executive; state Comptroller Peter Franchot; former state Attorney General Doug Gansler; John King Jr., a former education secretary under Obama; author Wes Moore; and Mike Rosenbaum, a Baltimore businessman, are all running. For the GOP, state Commerce Secretary Kelly Schulz has declared her candidacy.
