Rep. Keith Ellison of Minnesota, who is running to be chair for the Democratic National Committee, released his strategy Friday for how to get the Latino community more engaged in the Democratic Party — an issue that came up after the Democrats’ loss in the 2016 election.
The engagement strategy details Ellison’s plan to diversify the DNC staff, hire a Latino pollster to help with its outreach to the Latino community, create a database for Hispanic Democratic officials and Latino organizations and create DNC candidate-training programs to help win local races.
The plan also said that under Ellison’s leadership, the DNC will reach out to Latino veterans, prioritize adding young Latinos to the DNC, visit states with large Latino populations and increase voter assistance and outreach.
Ellison — who is backed by Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and other influential Democratic leaders on Capitol Hill — has solid competition for the job to lead the Democratic Party, especially from former secretary of Labor Tom Perez.
The platform said that Ellison wants to “defend Latinos against abusive politicians like Donald Trump.”
Ellison, who was the first Muslim elected to Congress, said he wants to make it clear to Latino voters that “we’re not going to take them for granted.”
“I want to send a clear message to the Latino community: that we’re not going to take them for granted, that we’re going to fight for them and their families day in and day out,” Rep. Keith Ellison told CNN. “If I’m elected DNC Chair, I’ll continue being a strong ally of Hispanic communities everywhere.”