The Democratic National Committee finished 2017 having raised half as much money as the Republican National Committee. | John Shinkle/POLITICO DNC hires new top fundraiser

Three and a half months after firing its top fundraiser, the Democratic National Committee has hired a replacement.

Clayton Cox, who has been serving as a senior adviser, will get the job, a DNC official confirmed Wednesday evening.


Cox comes in as the DNC finished 2017 having raised half as much money as the Republican National Committee, and entered the midterms year with $6.5 million cash on hand and $6.2 million in debt.

The DNC official explained the time it took to hire a new finance director by saying that chair Tom Perez and other leaders conducted a nationwide search interviewing several candidates, but Cox stood out from among them. He served as the DNC’s Midwest, Florida & Georgia finance director during the 2016 cycle.

“Thanks to Clayton’s help, we’ve been outperforming recent off-year fundraising efforts and turning those resources into wins in Republican strongholds. I’m more than confident in Clayton’s leadership and his ability to raise the resources we need to win elections this year, next year, and beyond,” Perez said, in a statement.

Morning Score newsletter Your guide to the permanent campaign — weekday mornings, in your inbox. Email Sign Up By signing up you agree to receive email newsletters or alerts from POLITICO. You can unsubscribe at any time. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

The DNC is also promoting Patrice Taylor beyond her current responsibilities overseeing planning for the presidential primary process and the Unity Reform Commission to be the liaison between the DNC and its party officers.

“She has worked tirelessly to ensure that every Democrat has a voice in our party’s affairs,” Perez said in the statement, calling both “essential to our team since I stepped in the building.”

