Former Bernie Sanders Campaign Manager Faiz Shakir Joins Democratic National Committee Chair Race 

Former Bernie Sanders campaign manager Faiz Shakir has joined the race for the Democratic National Committee (DNC) chair. The 45-year-old Pakistani American said he decided to run because he’s “frustrated” by the “lack of vision” to restore the party. 

The longtime Democratic political operative told The New York Times that he was joining the race because he grew “frustrated at seeing the candidates focus too much on procedural and bureaucratic details of running the committee,” instead of  focusing “an ambitious vision for the chairmanship, and shaping what the Democratic Party should say and stand for.” He described the Democratic brand as fundamentally “tarnished,” “broken” and “in need of repair.”

He admitted to  The Times that his entrance in the game is late,” adding: “If we can’t have a bold debate about these issues — it’s now or never.” But Politico notes that his “late entrance into the race could shake up a contest that has largely focused on party mechanics rather than its ideology.” The Times says that while Shakir’s “would appear to be a long shot, his entrance could shake up a contest that so far has been dominated by two middle-aged Midwestern white men who lead state parties.” 

Wisconsin Democratic Party Chair Ben Wikler and Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party Chair Ken Martin, “have rolled out high-profile endorsements and locked down some of the DNC’s 448 members,” Politico reported, while former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley “has also carved out a bloc of support among DNC members.” The DNC chair elections will be held on Feb. 1.

Shakir hasn’t not yet “whipped committee members for support,” he told The Times. But he believes “there was a large contingent of DNC members who remained undecided,” he added. Meanwhile, he sent a letter today to the 448 members of the Democratic National Committee announcing his run. In the letter. he “called for the party to build “its own powerful media outlet, and to engage with Trump supporters while building an organizing army and fielding more candidates for local offices,” according to The Times. 

Noting that “the current crop of candidates to lead the party has been uninspiring,” he said listening to them, he senses “a constrained, status-quo style of thinking.” The Democratic Party “cannot expect working-class audiences to see us any differently if we are not offering anything new or substantive to attract their support,” he wrote. 

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If elected, Shakir told The Times “his mission would be to redefine the Democratic Party as the party of the working class — including by reaching beyond the typical confines of campaigns, such as organizing to support striking workers. We are rebuilding trust with people who don’t believe the Democratic Party has been there when it matters most to them.”

Shakir is the founder and executive director of More Perfect Union, a progressive non-profit news media organization established in February 2021. He is best known for leading the Sanders campaign in 2020. Previously ACLU’s national political director, he served in congressional roles as senior advisors to Senator Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

A graduate of Harvard University and Georgetown University Law Center, Shakir also spent seven years at the Center for American Progress (CAP), helping the organization establish its identity as the leading progressive think tank in the nation. At CAP ,he served as a Vice President for Communications and was a founding member and editor-in-chief of ThinkProgress.org, one of the top political news websites in the United States.