Bill Glauber

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

For Tom Perez, the race to become chair of the Democratic National Committee runs through rural Wisconsin.

Perez, the former U.S. labor secretary from Maryland, will hold a listening session Monday in Hayward. Perez and U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) are considered the co-favorites in the crowded race for DNC chair, which will be decided in a meeting in Atlanta at the end of the month.

"The Democratic Party needs to make house calls," Perez said in an interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "One of the reasons we lost in places like Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania is we're not speaking to rural voters."

In 2012, former President Barack Obama carried Sawyer County by a handful of votes over Republican Mitt Romney, while in 2016 President Donald Trump routed Democrat Hillary Clinton by more than 1,600 votes.

Perez said he has talked with state Sen. Janet Bewley (D-Ashland), who is hosting Monday's event. Perez said, "It's pretty clear to me that people above Highway 29 feel quite neglected."

"The message of opportunity and inclusion of the Democratic Party should resonate in every ZIP code," he said. "And it's clearly not, judging from the outcome of this election."

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In the race for DNC chair, Ellison has picked up support from three of Wisconsin's six delegates, including state party chairwoman Martha Laning. Three DNC delegates from Wisconsin, including Bewley, remain neutral.

Perez has ties to Wisconsin. He and his wife, Ann, married in Milwaukee. His father-in-law lives in Wauwatosa.

The problems facing Democrats nationally have been felt in Wisconsin for the last eight years, where Democrats lost control of most state offices and the Legislature.

"I think what happened in Wisconsin is very fixable," he said. "And I think we fix it by organizing 12 months a year, by talking to people" and by explaining to voters what the party stands for, adding that "economic opportunity happens when Democrats are in the White House."

"If you want a good job that pays a middle-class wage, join the Democratic Party," Perez said. "If you want to make sure voter suppression isn't part of the landscape in Wisconsin, join the Democratic Party."

Perez was harshly critical of President Donald Trump's administration.

"He has already demonstrated in two short weeks that he hasn't drained the swamp," Perez said. "He has filled it with bigger alligators from Wall Street. Billionaires and oligarchs, that's who he cares about."

Perez spoke positively of grass-roots activism, including the women's march in Washington and elsewhere and expressed a desire to "turn this moment into a movement."

He called the women's marches "a very strong statement" by 2.5 million people who said the president didn't stand for their values and that "if you want to govern from the far right, we'll make you a one-term president."

"That is my goal as DNC chair," Perez said. "I want to make him a one-term president."