Wellington Webb Wins Support from Kwame Kilpatrick, Willie Brown, Others

Wellington Webb is a vice chairman of the national party and the only minority out of seven men seeking to replace outgoing chairman Terry McAuliffe. Webb has snagged support from African-American party brass such as Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick of Detroit and former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown. On Tuesday he also garnered endorsements from DNC deputy chair Ben Johnson of Washington, D.C., plus DNC members Harvey Johnson Jr., mayor of Jackson, Miss. and Mayor Douglas Palmer of Trenton. Webb has also received the backing of, among others: Rep. Emanuel Cleaver of Kansas City, Mo.; Rep. Albert Wynn of Baltimore. But others such as Johnson, Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. of Illinois, former Clinton aide Minyon Moore and Democratic National Committee Black Caucus chairwoman Yvonne Atkinson Gates have pledged support to Dean. Former presidential candidate Al Sharpton said Saturday that he expected that day to endorse Webb's candidacy. As of Wednesday, Sharpton's endorsement still hadn't come through. Eastern Democrats will interview chairman candidates in New York on Saturday in the last of four regional meetings before the full committee's vote in mid-February. The Denver Post January 27, 2005