Senior black Democrats urge party chairman to take responsibility for Iowa

Senior leadership in the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) sent a letter to Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chairman Tom Perez days after the bungled Iowa caucuses, demanding he take accountability for the situation.

The letter was penned on Feb. 5 — two days after Iowa caucused — by four Democrats: CBC Chairwoman Rep. Karen Bass (Calif.), CBC PAC Chairman Rep. Gregory Meeks (N.Y.) and Reps. Barbara Lee (Calif.) and Bennie Thompson (Miss.), BuzzFeed News reports.

“As chairman of the Democratic National Committee, you bear some responsibility for what happened in Iowa and for the consequences,” the lawmakers told Perez in the letter, adding that the “unacceptable” problems in the Hawkeye State “undermined public confidence” in the primary process.

The results of the first-in-the-nation caucus were substantially delayed because of a technological failure that made it difficult for a timely and accurate tally of the results to happen.

Even after all precincts were reporting, The Associated Press said it was unable to declare a winner due to discrepancies in the reporting data.

Perez, who’s been at the helm of the DNC for three years, responded to the group Tuesday with a letter of his own, according to BuzzFeed.

“What happened in Iowa was completely unacceptable,” Perez wrote back. “While the Iowa Democratic Party (IDP) runs the Iowa caucuses, we have a shared responsibility, which we take seriously.

“I look forward to meeting with you and your fellow members to address questions and concerns about the Iowa caucus process,” he added.

Perez has never really been in the CBC’s good graces; in 2018, after many in the caucus opposed a rule change concerning superdelegates, the CBC passed a vote of no confidence against him.

Late last week, Perez called for the IDP to recanvass the results. The IDP said Wednesday that it expects the recanvass to begin Sunday.

Wednesday evening, IDP Chairman Troy Price announced his resignation.