Harrison, the longtime Democratic Party official, is President-elect Joe Bidens choice to lead the national party, according to multiple party officials. (AP Photo/Richard Shiro, File)COLUMBIA, S.C. – The Democratic National Committee elected Jaime Harrison of South Carolina as chair on Thursday, signifying an early alignment between newly inaugurated President Joe Biden and state party leaders around the country. Harrison was a key liaison with state party leaders with whom Perez sometimes had rocky relationships. Harrison, 44, comes into the job with overwhelming support from state party leaders, making his elevation a sign of relative unity in a party organization often beset by infighting among state leaders and Washington power players. Thursday's meeting also included a video tribute to Don Fowler, a former national party chair and mainstay of South Carolina politics, who died last month at age 85.

The setting was similarly swanky in August, when Warren addressed party contributors at the ornate Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco. Bernie Sanders, Warren's chief rival for the most liberal wing of the Democratic Party, also is shunning large-dollar fundraisers in the primary. Warren's campaign said it hasn't made final decisions on how she would conduct party fundraisers as the nominee. "I will help the party," Warren said while campaigning in South Carolina last weekend. Warren campaign spokesman Chris Hayden says she's avoided special VIP receptions at DNC events, keeping with Warren's "no special access" for big donors pledge.