MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — Rep. Keith Ellison said that the Democratic Party needs to look beyond a 50-state strategy and work to make gains among all 3,143 counties.

Ellison unveiled his platform Thursday in his run to be the next head of the Democratic National Committee.

“We must energize Democratic activists across the country and give them the tools to build the Party from the bottom-up,” Ellison said. “In a DNC Chair, they need a partner and an advocate who will ensure they have the resources they need to win. This platform does just that and will give Democratic voters a reason to show up at the polls in 2017, 2018, and beyond.”

Ellison’s platform included promises to focus on the working class and the labor community, to look “beyond the beltway,” and examine cybersecurity and polling performance.

The vacancy for DNC chair came earlier this year, when leaked emails from within the organization forced congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz to resign from her position. Longtime party strategist Donna Brazile is currently serving as interim chair.

Ellison’s campaign to chair the DNC has also renewed questions about his past association with the Nation of Islam and Louis Farrakhan. Recently, the New York Times reported that Ellison had canceled a scheduled phone interview with the newspaper after he learned the reporter planned to ask about the Nation of Islam and Farrakhan.