Colorado Democratic Party Chairman Rick Palacio fell short Saturday in his bid for a vice chair position on the Democratic National Committee at the party’s winter meeting in Atlanta, but he cheered the newly elected chair’s embrace of his chief rival in an attempt to bring Democrats together.

Democrats voted in former Labor Secretary Thomas Perez as national chairman, although after the results were announced Perez named Minnesota Rep. Keith Ellison, who ran a close second in a crowded field, as his deputy chair.

The move drew praise from Democrats hoping to heal the rifts exposed during last year’s presidential election between the more establishment wing of the party – typically those backing former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton – and the upstart, more liberal wing – supporters of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who endorsed Ellison for DNC chair.

Palacio told The Colorado Statesman he voted for Perez – the DNC’s 447 members include state chairs – but was pleased that Perez had tapped Ellison as deputy, calling the appointment “very magnanimous.”

Perez takes over from Donna Brazille, a former national vice chair who has served as acting chair of the party since Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz resigned last summer when WikiLeaks released the first batch of purloined DNC emails.

Palacio announced in late November that he wouldn’t be seeking a fourth term helming the Colorado party. Three candidates for state chair – former Senate President Morgan Carroll, the party’s incumbent 2nd vice chair, Barbara Jones, and Clear Creek Commissioner Tim Mauck – will be vying to take over for Palacio when Democrats hold their biennial reorganization meeting on March 11 in Denver.

Palacio said Sunday he’s involved in conversations about plans after his term as state chair ends.

In voting late Saturday for the at-large vice chair post, New York Assemblyman Michael Blake won with 237 votes, ahead of Clinton organizer Adam Parkhomenko’s 95 votes and Palacio’s 74 votes. The once-crowded field for the office narrowed considerably to just the three candidates before the balloting.

In separate voting, Maria Elena Durazo of California and Grace Meng of New York won additional at-large vice chair positions. In another contest, Karen Carter Peterson of Louisiana won election as the party’s vice chair of civic engagement and voter participation. The party also elected a national finance chair, a secretary and a treasurer. Aspen management consultant Joyce Amico came in second in the treasurer race.

“I ran because I felt it was important to highlight the role of the West and to ensure that we had someone advocating for the middle of the country,” Palacio told The Statesman as he was boarding a plane to return home on Sunday afternoon.

Wisconsin Democratic Party Chairwoman Martha Laning emphasized a similar point when she nominated Palacio.

“It’s about more than just the states on the west coast, it’s about more than the states on the east coast, it’s about all the states,” she said.

Palacio was the only candidate in his race from the middle of the country, and he was also the only state chair in the running.

Seconding Palacio’s nomination, Earl Fowlkes, Jr., who chairs the DNC’s LGBT caucus, said Palacio deserved credit for turning swing-state Colorado more reliably Democratic in recent elections, including wins by Clinton and U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet in last fall’s election.

“Rick understands we must do a better job of recruiting, training and supporting diverse talent,” Fowlkes said, pointing out that Palacio was the first Latino and first openly gay Democrat to chair the party in Colorado.

“My pink tie today, if you can see it, is worn in solidarity,” Palacio said, “because this week, like the bully that he is, Donald Trump rolled back protections for our LGBT youth – some of the country’s most vulnerable citizens.”

Accepting the nomination, Palacio didn’t hold back in his harsh criticism of Trump.

“In the few short weeks since Donald Trump became president, he’s rolled back decades of progress that we’ve made,” he said. “He tried to ban our Muslim brothers and sisters from entering our country, he nominated out-of-touch billionaires for his cabinet, who are clueless about their jobs.”

Invoking the massive marches and protests that have greeted Trump in the last month, Palacio spoke a sentence in Spanish and then repeated a translation: “We are not going to stop fighting, my Democratic brothers and sisters.”

Palacio said his experience as a state chair meant he knew what it took to win tough elections. “It takes more than data and more than analytics – it takes people,” he said. “Winning takes more than engaging our communities two months before an election – it takes year-round work. Winning doesn’t happen from the top down, it happens by organizing and empowering leaders in every ZIP code across this country. Winning takes more than competing in 20 states – it takes fighting for every race in every place.”

– ernest@coloradostatesman.com