Democratic National Committee Chair Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz on Thursday said that the Rev. Leah D. Daughtry will serve as chief executive officer of the Democratic National Convention Committee in 2016.
Daughtry, 52, who splits time between Washington, D.C., and Brooklyn, New York, served in the position in 2008 in Denver, Colorado, when Barack Obama was elected the first African-American president of the United States.
“We are thrilled to have Leah Daughtry return to lead our convention team. She will bring so much expertise and enthusiasm to this important event,” Wasserman Schultz said in a prepared statement.
Daughter of activist and pastor the Rev. Herbert Daughtry of the House of the Lord Church, Daughtry works as a minister herself in Washington.
She also has strong roots in the Democratic Party, holding various senior posts at the United States Department of Labor during the Clinton administration, including senior advisor to the secretary, chief of staff, and lastly, acting assistant secretary for Administration and Management, with oversight for the development of the Department’s management programs and policies, including responsibility for the Department’s $35 billion budget, according to a bio at Harvard University Institute of Politics, where she served as a fellow in 2009.
May 6, 2026