Rep. Keith Ellison, who represents Minnesota's 5th District, pledged to stay committed to his job as a member of Congress until the race is decided sometime next year. | AP Photo Keith Ellison pledges to leave House if he wins DNC race

Rep. Keith Ellison will leave his congressional seat if he wins the race to chair the Democratic National Committee, he said in a statement Wednesday.

"In order to further their commitment and maximize my effectiveness, I have decided to resign as a member of Congress if I win the election for DNC chair," Ellison wrote. "Whoever wins the DNC chair race faces a lot of work, travel, planning and resource raising. I will be 'all-in' to meet the challenge."


Ellison thanked those who had shared their views on his options. “But at this point,” he wrote, “the Democratic Party must be the party that delivers for working people. We can do that by meeting folks where they are, looking them in the eye, treating them with respect, and working to solve their problems. For me, that means a chair with only one full-time commitment.”

The move underscores the pressure Ellison has gotten from fellow Democrats to promise to be a full-time DNC chair if he were to win the race. Ellison and his allies had argued that he could juggle both jobs, but DNC members, who vote on the next chair, have been skeptical — with many recalling the stormy tenure of Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who faced criticism as DNC chair for favoring her personal political interests over those of the party.

Ellison, who represents Minnesota’s 5th District, pledged to stay committed to his job as a member of Congress until the race is decided sometime next year.

“Serving my neighbors in Congress and fighting for them has been the best job I’ve ever had,” Ellison wrote. “Whether it was for immigration reform, worker’s [sic] rights, gender equity, or social justice, we stood side by side so that every person in American [sic], no matter their race, religion or identity, is treated with respect and given every opportunity to succeed. Until the DNC Chair election, I plan to continue doing just that.”

Before Ellison's announcement on Wednesday, he had a one-on-one meeting with Ilyse Hogue, president of the pro-abortion rights group NARAL Pro-Choice America, sources with knowledge of the meeting confirmed. It's not clear what Hogue and Ellison discussed, but their encounter is noteworthy given that Hogue is also thinking of jumping into the race for DNC chair.

As Ellison has begun making the rounds to win over DNC members, he's been met again and again with strong skepticism that he could serve as an adequate chairman and also as a member of Congress. Often, DNC chairs and committeemen point to Wasserman Schultz's tenure.

"He just eliminated a hurdle that would have made it impossible" to win, said a Democratic state chairman who declined to talk on the record. "We all watched Debbie Wassermann Schultz run around these meetings trying to balance everything, and it was kind of a shitshow. People just didn't want to do that again."

But Ellison's supporters, including Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, have claimed the full-time vs. part-time issue was really only a way to oppose the progressive Minnesota congressman without provoking the left. Wasserman Schultz, Ellison's supporters have noted, didn't get that kind of skepticism when she was appointed DNC chairwoman.

"I think this is a way for his opponents to try to criticize him and end up supporting somebody else," Sanders said of Ellison at a Christian Science Monitor breakfast in November.

South Carolina Democratic Party chairman Jaime Harrison, who is also running for DNC chair and said he would drop his job as a lobbyist if elected to the post, said Ellison's move was a necessary step.

"I'm glad the congressman realized what I've been saying long enough: that the members of the DNC are not going to be open to anyone who could not dedicate [themselves] full-time to the position of DNC chair. It is a requirement that has to be met," Harrison said.

But others said Ellison still has more hurdles to clear.

North Carolina Democratic Party chairwoman Patsy Keever pointed to a wave of statements Ellison made in the past that critics have cast as anti-Semitic.

"The fact that he would step down as a member of Congress might make him more palatable, but I think his biggest problem is the things that he's said in the past that seem very divisive," Keever said.