Simon Rosenberg has withdrawn his candidacy for Democratic National Committee chair and has endorsed former Vermont Gov. and presidential candidate Howard Dean in the Feb. 12 contest to succeed DNC Chair Terry McAuliffe.
          
"While we have not always agreed on every issue, I believe his passion for our Party, his remarkable fighting spirit, his direct and powerful way of speaking, and his commitment to bringing regular people back into our Party will allow him to revitalize our Party and help us win again in the 21st century," Rosenberg said in a statement posted on his website.

The founder of the New Democratic Network said "my work and my commitment to the Party that I love will continue at NDN. There I will continue to focus on the three priorities for our Party that I spelled out in the campaign - crafting a better agenda for our Party, investing in and building a better infrastructure for our politics, and leading a new national commitment to nurturing the grassroots. If we can do these three things and do them well in the years ahead, we can once again become a vibrant, dynamic and winning Party."

Before Rosenberg withdrew, the state Democratic chairs indicated that Dean was their first choice and the United Auto Workers also endorsed Dean.   Another Jewish candidate, former U.S. Rep. Martin Frost of Texas, withdrew after the state chairs made their preference known.
—Donald H. Harrison