For Immediate Release
December 10, 2004

Contact: Tony Welch
202-863-8148

McAuliffe Names 2008 Nominating Calendar Commission

Alexis Herman and Rep. David Price to Serve as Co-Chairs
 

Washington, D.C. – Former U.S. Secretary of Labor Alexis Herman and North Carolina Congressman David Price will serve as Co-Chairs of the Democratic National Committee's Commission on Presidential Nomination Timing and Scheduling DNC Chairman Terry McAuliffe announced today in a meeting of the DNC Executive Committee.  The Commission will study the scheduling of Democratic presidential primaries and caucuses and make recommendations for the 2008 nominating process.

In July, the 2004 Democratic National Convention passed a resolution calling for the creation of the Commission. In carrying out its work, the Commission will examine all reform proposals both incremental and substantive as well as outline steps for how those proposals would be implemented.  The Commission is made up of a mix of DNC members, elected officials, representatives of State Parties, academics, organized labor officials, grassroots activists and other Party leaders.

"Over the next year, this diverse group of individuals with different backgrounds, perspectives and experiences on this issue will conduct the vital work of reviewing every aspect of the Party's nominating schedule to develop a 2008 primary and caucus calendar."  McAuliffe said. "I am confident that under the leadership of Secretary Herman and Congressman Price, the Commission will develop recommendations that fully embrace the Party's commitment to openness and fairness for voters and candidates and help to produce the strongest possible nominee."

Herman served as Chief of Staff and Deputy Chair of the DNC under former Chairman Ron Brown and was later the Chief Executive Officer of the 1992 Democratic National Convention in New York.  She also served as Assistant to the President and Director of Public Liaison in the Clinton White House before making history as the first African American to serve as Secretary of Labor with her appointment in 1997.  In 2001, Chairman McAuliffe nominated her to serve on the DNC.

Congressman Price is about to enter his ninth term representing the North Carolina Triangle area of Chapel Hill/Raleigh/Durham.  Congressman Price is a lifelong educator and has been a political science professor at Duke University since 1973.  He is also a former executive director and chairman of the North Carolina Democratic Party.  Earlier in his career, Price was the staff director for the DNC Commission on Presidential Nomination (The Hunt Commission), one of the Party's last major blue ribbon commissions that reviewed the delegate selection process.  Congressman Price is the author of four books on the American political party system and Congress.

The commission is expected to hold its first meeting sometime early next year and will complete its work and issue its report and recommendations to the DNC by December 31, 2005.

A complete list of the commission's members is attached.