the Democratic National Committee, along with Howard Dean, Martin O'Malley, Raymond Buckley, and Jaime R. Harrison, chairman of the South Carolina Democratic Party. Ellison, who at the time served as chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, emerged as a top contender and was viewed as a progressive alternative to the more moderate wings of the party. The race was viewed by some commentators and analysts as a proxy battle between the Clinton and Sanders factions of the party. Support In autumn 2016, Ellison was endorsed by both Senator Bernie Sanders and incoming Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. In November 2016, outgoing Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid endorsed Ellison for DNC chair. In early December Ellison's endorsements included the AFL–CIO and several elected officials in Congress, including Senators Elizabeth Warren and Martin Heinrich, and Representatives John Lewis, Luis Gutiérrez and Tulsi Gabbard, among others. Opposition Obama loyalists were uneasy with Ellison, and began looking for a candidate to oppose him, holding meetings with Obama administration labor secretary Thomas Perez. In November 2016, the Investigative Project on Terrorism published a 2010 speech in which Ellison asked why the United States foreign policy in the Middle East "is governed by what is good or bad through a country of 7 million people. A region of 350 million all turns on a country of 7 million. Does that make sense? Is that logic?" His comments were interpreted as a reference to Israel. The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) effectively announced its opposition to Ellison's candidacy, issuing a press release saying that his statement "raises serious concerns about whether Ellison faithfully could represent the Democratic Party's traditional support for a strong and secure Israel." CNN also reported on his past support for anti-Semitic and radical organizations and individuals, particularly the Nation of Islam and Louis Farrakhan, but said they had found no anti-Semitic writings or public statements by Ellison, and cited his public rejection of the group "due to its propagation of bigoted and anti-Semitic ideas and statements". The New York Times reported that one of the Democratic Party's biggest donors, Haim Saban, said in his 2016 foreign policy forum that Ellison is "clearly an anti-Semitic and anti-Israel person." Reporters from The Washington Post, Slate and The Huffington Post have described this as part of a smear campaign against Ellison, and note that Ellison's rivals agreed that Saban should apologize for the comments. Schumer replied to critics,