Rep. Keith Ellison declined to say whether he'd resign from his congressional seat if elected as DNC chairman. | AP Photo Ellison dodges on whether he'd resign House seat if selected DNC chair

Rep. Keith Ellison declined to answer directly on Monday morning when asked whether he would consider resigning his seat in Congress to be chairman of the Democratic National Committee.

Asked by Mark Halperin on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” about giving up the seat for the chairmanship post, Ellison allowed that “that’s a fair conversation” but declined on commit to it.


Ellison is the favorite of some members of the party’s left wing to lead the DNC, and incoming Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is also supporting him. But Democrats skeptical of Ellison say the chairmanship should be a full-time job. Ellison represents Minnesota’s 5th Congressional District in the House and serves as co-chairman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

“I think that's a fair conversation. I think it's too early to have that,” Ellison told Halperin before pivoting back to his candidacy’s platform — the need to focus on increasing voter turnout.

Later Monday morning, Ellison avoided directly answering a similar question from CNN’s Chris Cuomo. Ellison said he accepts that the DNC head is a full-time job but argued that “that doesn’t mean that I can’t do that job.”

Cuomo noted that serving in Congress and leading the DNC “would be two jobs,” prompting Ellison to describe himself as a “very-hard working person” before turning back to discussing the turnout issue.