Idaho Democratic official to run for DNC chair

BOISE – Idaho Democrat Sally Boynton Brown is promising to lead the “insurgency” if she wins her pursuit for leader of the Democratic National Committee.

Boynton Brown, currently the executive director of the Idaho Democratic Party, announced her candidacy Friday.

“Our party can’t afford to spend the next two years having an ideological debate on whether we are liberals or moderates,” Boynton Brown said in a prepared statement. “The Democratic Party has always represented the people and now more than ever we must blow the walls off our tent so everyone feels welcome.”

Her bid comes as the Democratic National Committee is deciding how to move forward after major losses in the presidential contest and races nationwide – including losing four key legislative seats in Idaho, a surprise blow to many Democratic state leaders who hoped to push back against the supermajority control held by Idaho’s Republican Party.

The party is also in the middle of addressing lingering distrust over its perceived favoritism of Hillary Clinton during the Democratic primary.

“If people haven’t noticed, our country is becoming more Republican,” Boynton Brown said. “Coming from a red state, I already know what it’s like to bring people together and fight for Democrats.”

Boynton Brown, the first woman to throw her hat in the ring, is currently competing against Minnesota U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison, the first Muslim elected to Congress; Labor Secretary Tom Perez; South Carolina chairman Jaime Harrison; and New Hampshire party head Ray Buckley.

All the candidates must woo nearly 450 voting Democratic National Committee members at four regional forums before the official election at the end of February.

Boynton Brown says she has the endorsement of all four Idaho DNC members, which includes party chairman Bert Marley.

Marley did not immediately return a phone message on Friday.

Boynton Brown, 40, became Idaho’s party executive director in 2011 after serving as the party’s spokeswoman. At the national level, of the DNC, she’s the president of the Association of State Democratic Executive Directors.