WASHINGTON -- With just about a week left before the 447 Democratic National Committee delegates cast votes for a chair to lead the organization, Rep. Keith Ellison said on Wednesday he secured votes from all of the delegates in five states.
Ellison is running to be DNC chairman against nine other candidates, but is considered a front-runner along with Tom Perez, who was former President Obama's labor secretary.
With that many people vying to be chair, though, Ellison will likely have to get support from others running in order to eventually win. Several rounds of voting is expected next weekend at the DNC's annual meeting in Atlanta. Ellison has said he will resign his Minneapolis-based congressional seat if he wins.
Ellison's DNC campaign said on Wednesday he sewed up votes from all of the state delegates from Minnesota, Nebraska, Rhode Island, South Dakota and Vermont -- a total of 25 votes out of the 224 he will eventually need to win.
