Advertisement Updated: Buckley announces candidacy for DNC chair Five-term NHDP chair promises to focus on party’s grassroots organization Share Shares Copy Link Copy

(Tuesday afternoon, Nov. 29, update) As WMUR.com was first to report on Monday night, New Hampshire Democratic Party Chairman Raymond Buckley made it official on Tuesday afternoon that he is a candidate to lead his national party as chairman. In an email to fellow Democratic National Committee members that begins with, I'm in!" Buckley wrote that if he is elected, "there will be radical reform of how the DNC operates. You and every member of the DNC will be called upon to fully participate in the governance of our party." "The DNC will be a team effort unlike what we have seen for many years," Buckley wrote. "Every voice should be respected, every face reflected in the Democratic Party. The party cannot just be about winning the White House. We have thousands of other races, including state, county and local races, that we need to win as well." Buckley promised to speak to all DNC members so they can "share with me your ideas." Buckley's full statement can be viewed here. In an interview, Buckley said that he and other candidates for chairman will speak to about 200 party leaders in Denver on Friday. The candidates' forum is part of a three-day meeting of the DNC executive committee and other top party leaders. The election for chairman will take place at the DNC's winter meeting in Atlanta, scheduled for Feb. 23-26. At the Denver meeting this week, the DNC's Rules and Bylaws Committee will meet to establish the rules that will govern the election of a chairman and other national party officers in February. Buckley, meanwhile, said that his experience as chairman of the New Hampshire Democratic Party since 2007 and as a national party vice chairman for the past eight years gives him an understanding that the party gains its strength from the grassroots. “New Hampshire very much reflects the country,” he said. “The state is evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans, just as the United States as a whole is evenly divided.” He noted that during his tenure as state party chairman, Democrats have won three presidential elections in the state and 11 of 13 statewide races, including five of the last six gubernatorial elections, three of the last four U.S. Senate races and nine of the last 12 congressional races. “That is due to the grassroots being deeply involved and engaged, and it showed in 2014 and 2016, when we bucked the Republican tides,” he said. To be successful nationally, he said, “We need to return to the basics. Television ads aren’t enough. It’s got to be an actual year-round effort with a ground operation in the cities and towns and neighborhoods.” “I think that having had a front row seat for the last decade and a half, I really understand the inner workings of the (national) party and how to make the necessary changes to get the job done,” he said. In the national party at the moment, he said, “There is a feeling that the party has a lack of respect for the grassroots and for the activists. We need to re-engage and involve them. Even many members of the DNC itself feel they have not had respect.” Buckley becomes a candidate for party chairman as Democrats are reeling from Hillary Clinton’s upset loss in the presidential election and several controversies that led both to the resignation of former chair Deborah Wasserman Schulz and to questions surrounding interim chair Donna Brazile after hacked emails from WikiLeaks showed that she shared questions for CNN-sponsored candidate events with friends on Clinton's campaign. Buckley became the fourth candidate to formally announce a candidacy for chairman, joining former DNC chairman and Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison of Minnesota and South Carolina Democratic Party Chairman Jaime Harrison. Also strongly considering running are NARAL President Ilyse Hogue, EMILY's List President and current Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez. Buckley recently expressed an openness to a "bifurcated" chairmanship shared by two party leaders. In an earlier email to DNC members, he wrote that under the bifurcated arrangement, "one chair is an elected official who is the 'face' of the party, the primaryh spokesperson for the party, deeply involved in messaging and representing the party across the country and the second chair would be the 'nuts and bolts' chair, running the day to day operations of the party, provide support for state paraties and rebuilding our grassroots nationwide. "Both chairs would work as a team, participate in fundraising and oversee the general operation of the party. It would take two individuals witht eh ability to work in the model of team leadership." He told WMUR.com on Tuesday that while he is open to a bifurcated arrangement, he is not specifically proposing it. Buckley's current term as state Democratic chairman -- his fifth -- expires in late March, a month after the election of the new DNC chairman. He said that if he wins the DNC election, he will not seek re-election as state party chairman, but he said he does not intend to step down as state chairman in the meantime. (Our earlier report follows.) (Monday night, Nov. 28) New Hampshire Democratic Party Chairman Raymond Buckley confirmed to fellow state party leaders on Monday night that he will announce his candidacy for chairman of the Democratic National Committee on Tuesday. In an email to members of the NHDP executive committee and other leaders that followed the publication of WMUR.com's exclusive report, Buckley wrote that the national party is in need of “urgent reform.” “I am writing you tonight to let you know that (Tuesday) I will announce my candidacy for DNC chair," Buckley wrote. "I hope to bring what all of you have taught me over the years -- elections are won in the grassroots -- not in D.C., or Concord, for that matter.” “The DNC from top to bottom needs urgent reform. I hope to bring our New Hampshire common sense to the national party and get us ready for victories in 2018, 2020 and beyond. I know the challenge ahead is great and I hope I can count on you to join me in this effort,” he wrote. Earlier Monday evening, Democratic sources told WMUR.com that the 57-year-old five-term state party chairman will pledge to be a full-time national chairman committed to returning the party’s focus to the grassroots. He is also expected promise to reform the national party structure to be more inclusive and to lead the party in, as one source explained it, “standing up against Donald Trump and the D.C. Republicans.” The election is scheduled to take place during the DNC’s winter meeting, which will be held Feb. 23-26 in Atlanta. There are 447 members of the DNC, including six members from New Hampshire, 116 state party chairmen and vice chairmen, and 34 former state chairs and vice chairs. A candidate will need to secure the votes of 50 percent plus one of those who are present to be elected. Buckley told WMUR 10 days ago that it was “more likely than not” that he would run for national party chairman. On Tuesday, he will make it official. In announcing his candidacy, Buckley is expected to point out that he is the only candidate for the post who is from outside the Washington Beltway. Others who have announced or are strongly considering running are U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison of Minnesota; former DNC Chairman and Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, who is now a lobbyist for a Washington law firm; South Carolina Democratic Chairman Jaime Harrison, who is a principal in the Podesta Group, a lobbying and consulting firm; NARAL President Ilyse Hogue; and current Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez. Buckley, if elected, would be the first openly gay chairman of a national party. He would also be the first DNC chairman from the Granite State. Buckley will become a candidate for party chairman as Democrats are reeling from Hillary Clinton’s upset loss in the presidential election and several controversies that led both to the resignation of former chair Deborah Wasserman Schulz and to questions surrounding interim chair Donna Brazile after hacked emails from WikiLeaks showed that she shared questions for CNN-sponsored candidate events with friends on Clinton's campaign. Buckley, a Keene native, has been an activist in the state Democratic Party since volunteering for party candidates as a 12-year-old child. He has been a member of the Democratic State Committee since 1978. Prior to being elected state party chairman in 2007, Buckley was party vice chair for four terms and served four two-year terms as chair of the DNC’s Eastern Region Caucus. For the past eight years, he has been president of the Association of State Democratic Chairs, a powerful group affiliated with the DNC that includes the party chairs and vice chairs of all 50 states, the District of Columbia and several U.S. territories. He has been a member of the DNC executive committee for 15 years and has served for seven years on the DNC Rules Committee. Buckley remained neutral in the 2008 and 2016 Democratic presidential primary races and came to the defense of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders when questions were briefly raised in the media about the eligibility of Sanders, who serves in the Senate as an independent, to become a candidate in the Democratic first-in-the-nation presidential primary. Earlier in his political career, Buckley was an eight-term New Hampshire House member, representing Manchester’s Ward 8, and a Manchester alderman. Buckley, as NHDP chairman, has emphasized the key elements of party-building success at the ballot box: grassroots organizing and fundraising. Under his leadership, New Hampshire Democrats have won more races than they had won during the leadership of all prior chairmen in a state that was once considered a Republican stronghold. In 2014 and 2016, state Democrats bucked the national trends that led to Republican sweeps in other states. In 2014, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen survived a tough challenge from former Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown and Maggie Hassan was re-elected governor. This year, although Republican Trump was elected president, Clinton won the state’s four electoral votes. And although Republican Chris Sununu was elected governor, Hassan ousted Republican Sen. Kelly Ayotte, Democratic former Rep. Carol Shea-Porter ousted Republican incumbent Frank Guinta and Democratic Rep. Annie Kuster won a third term. For the first time, all four members of the state’s congressional delegation are Democrats. Buckley told party leaders in his email that his campaign for chairman will be managed by Soham Pandit, the former political director for the New Hampshire Democratic coordinated campaign and manager of Executive Councilor Chris Pappas’ successful re-election campaign.