The 2005 Democratic National Committee (DNC) chairmanship election was held on February 12, 2005, to elect a chairperson to the DNC for a four-year term.

Howard Dean Howard Brush Dean III (born November 17, 1948) is an American physician, author, lobbyist, and retired politician who served as the 79th governor of Vermont from 1991 to 2003 and chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) from 2005 to 2009 ...

was elected as the DNC chair, succeeding

Terry McAuliffe Terence Richard McAuliffe (born February 9, 1957) is an American businessman and politician who served as the 72nd governor of Virginia from 2014 to 2018. A member of the Democratic Party, he was co-chairman of President Bill Clinton's 1996 ...

Race

Following the

2004 U.S. presidential election The 2004 United States presidential election was the 55th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 2, 2004. The Republican ticket of incumbent President George W. Bush and his running mate incumbent Vice President Dick Che ...

, some Democratic Party insiders wanted

to remain DNC chair. The

netroots Netroots is a term coined in 2002 by Jerome Armstrong to describe political activism organized through blogs and other online media, including wikis and social network services. The word is a portmanteau of Internet and grassroots, reflecting t ...

pushed for a different leader who would move the party away from the large donors.

, a candidate for the Democratic Party nomination for president in 2004, announced his bid to become DNC chair on January 11. Other candidates to declare included Former U.S. Representative

Tim Roemer Timothy John Roemer (born October 30, 1956) is an American diplomat and politician who served in the United States House of Representatives from 1991 to 2003 as a Democrat from Indiana's 3rd congressional district. Subsequently, he was the pres ...

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th ...

, former

Al Gore Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. Gore was the Democratic ...

and

John Kerry John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician and diplomat who currently serves as the first United States special presidential envoy for climate. A member of the Forbes family and the Democratic Party, he ...

staffer Donnie Fowler,

Mayor of Denver This is a list of mayors of Denver, the capital and largest city of the state of Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky M ...

Wellington Webb Wellington E. Webb (born February 17, 1941) is an American politician. He served in the Colorado House of Representatives and was the first African American mayor of Denver, Colorado, serving from 1991 to 2003. Early life and career The Webb fam ...

, New Democrat Network founder Simon Rosenberg, Former U.S. Representative

Martin Frost Martin may refer to: Places * Martin City (disambiguation) * Martin County (disambiguation) * Martin Township (disambiguation) Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Austr ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

, and Ohio Democratic Party Chair David J. Leland.

Kate Michelman Kate Michelman (born August 4, 1942) is an American political activist. She is best known for her work in the United States abortion rights movement, particularly as a long-time president of NARAL Pro-Choice America. Career From 1985 to 2004, ...

almost ran due to Roemer's

anti-abortion Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life or abolitionist movements, are involved in the abortion debate advocating against the practice of abortion and its legality. Many anti-abortion movements began as countermovements in respo ...

stance, but she opted not to run.

Harold M. Ickes Harold McEwen Ickes (; born September 4, 1939) is the former White House Deputy Chief of Staff for President Bill Clinton. He was a leading figure in the Clinton administration's healthcare reform initiative. Ickes is the son of Harold L. Icke ...

also considered running, but did not. Dean became the front-runner in the race, though Roemer received the endorsements of

Harry Reid Harry Mason Reid Jr. (; December 2, 1939 – December 28, 2021) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States senator from Nevada from 1987 to 2017. He led the Senate Democratic Caucus from 2005 to 2017 and was the Sena ...

and

Nancy Pelosi Nancy Patricia Pelosi (; ; born March 26, 1940) is an American politician who has served as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives since 2019 and previously from 2007 to 2011. She has represented in the United States House of ...

, the Democratic Party leaders in the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and po ...

and

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

, respectively. Though the executive committee of the Association of State Democratic Party chairs recommended an endorsement of Fowler, the group chose to endorse Dean on January 31. Webb dropped out and endorsed Dean. On February 1, Dean announced the endorsements of 53 more members of the DNC, increasing his total number of DNC supporters to 102. The

AFL–CIO The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL–CIO) is the largest federation of unions in the United States. It is made up of 56 national and international unions, together representing more than 12 million ac ...

opted not to endorse a candidate. Meanwhile, the

Service Employees International Union Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is a labor union representing almost 1.9 million workers in over 100 occupations in the United States and Canada. SEIU is focused on organizing workers in three sectors: healthcare (over half of members ...

endorsed Dean. Without the support of the labor movement, Frost dropped out. Receiving little support, Leland dropped out as well. Rosenberg dropped out on February 4 and endorsed Dean. Fowler dropped out on February 5 and endorsed Dean. Roemer, Dean's last challenger, dropped out on February 7. Dean was elected by a voice vote on February 12.

References

{{Howard Dean 2005 elections in the United States Chairmanship election, 2005 Democratic Party (United States) leadership elections February 2005 events in the United States Democratic National Committee chairmanship election

Race

See also

References