Tom Perez Bio
Thomas Edward Perez (born October 7, 1961) is an American politician, attorney, and professor whose career has spanned federal executive service, party leadership, and state and local government. He is a member of the Democratic Party and has built a record around civil rights enforcement, labor policy, and voting rights advocacy. Perez is widely recognized for serving as United States Secretary of Labor, Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, and Chair of the Democratic National Committee.
Born in Buffalo, New York, to Dominican-American parents, Perez has spent much of his adult life in Maryland, where he has held elected and appointed offices. After more than three decades in public service, he returned to the executive branch in 2023 as a senior advisor in the Biden administration. He is married to Ann Marie Staudenmaier, and the couple resides in Takoma Park, Maryland, with their three children.
Early Life and Background
Thomas Edward Perez was born and raised in Buffalo, New York. His parents, Dr. Rafael Antonio de Jesús Pérez Lara and Grace Pérez (née Altagracia Brache Bernard), had immigrated from the Dominican Republic. His father served in the U.S. Army after World War II, later becoming a physician at a Veterans Affairs hospital in Buffalo. His mother, Grace, came to the United States in 1930 when her father, Rafael Brache, was appointed Dominican Republic’s Ambassador to the United States.
Perez is the youngest of five siblings, and all but Perez followed their father into medicine. His father died of a heart attack when Perez was twelve, an event that shaped his early sense of responsibility. He attended Christ the King in Amherst, New York, through the eighth grade and graduated from Canisius High School, an all-boys Jesuit school in Buffalo, in 1979.
Perez earned a Bachelor of Arts in international relations and political science from Brown University in 1983, financing his education with scholarships, Pell Grants, and jobs that included trash collection, warehouse work, and shifts in Brown’s dining hall. He later received a Juris Doctor cum laude from Harvard Law School and a Master of Public Policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Government in 1987. While at Harvard, he also clerked for Attorney General Edwin Meese in 1986.
Path to US Politics
After graduating from Harvard, Perez clerked for Judge Zita Weinshienk of the United States District Court for the District of Colorado from 1987 to 1989. He then joined the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division as a federal prosecutor, serving until 1995. Within the division, he rose to Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights under Attorney General Janet Reno and chaired the interagency Worker Exploitation Task Force.
From 1995 to 1998, Perez served as principal adviser to Democratic Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy on civil rights, criminal justice, and constitutional issues. During the final two years of the Clinton administration, he directed the Office for Civil Rights at the United States Department of Health and Human Services. These roles established his reputation as a leading civil rights attorney and set the stage for his entry into electoral politics.
In 2001, Perez joined the University of Maryland School of Law as a professor, where he taught in the clinical law and law and health programs until 2007. He also served as a part-time faculty member at the George Washington University School of Public Health. This academic interlude ended when he successfully ran for the Montgomery County Council in 2002, beginning his career in elected office.
Tom Perez Career
Early Career (2002–2009)
Perez won election to the Montgomery County Council in 2002, representing the 5th District, which includes Silver Spring, Kensington, Takoma Park, and Wheaton. He defeated Sally Sternbach in the Democratic primary with support from the AFL–CIO and other labor groups, then beat Republican Dennis E. Walsh in the general election with 76 percent of the vote, becoming the county’s first Hispanic council member. He served as council president from 2004 to 2005 and was reelected in 2006.
During his time on the council, Perez championed legislation on predatory lending, partnered with fellow council member Mike Subin to expand the county’s Commission on Human Rights authority, and opposed the proposed privatization of CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield. He also co-led a 2004 initiative to import lower-cost prescription drugs from Canada for county employees and retirees.
Maryland Secretary of Labor (2007–2009)
In January 2007, newly elected Governor Martin O’Malley appointed Perez to lead the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation. In that role, Perez targeted workplace fraud and employee misclassification, helping to shepherd the Workplace Fraud Act of 2009 into law. He also led efforts to reintroduce a state living wage law and developed a plan to address Maryland’s nursing shortage by recognizing foreign-trained nurses’ credentials.
Perez served as co-chair of the Maryland Workforce Creation and Adult Education Transition Council and advised Governor O’Malley on a successful 2008 ballot initiative to legalize slot machines, arguing the revenue would support Maryland’s horse racing industry and public education.
Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights (2009–2013)
In October 2009, President Barack Obama nominated Perez to serve as Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division, and the Senate confirmed him to the post. In this role, Perez led major investigations into police misconduct, voter suppression, and student discrimination. He filed suit against Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio over discriminatory policing against Latinos and oversaw the federal challenge to South Carolina’s 2011 voter ID law, successfully blocking it from taking effect under the Voting Rights Act.
Perez also led the Justice Department’s investigation into the Sanford, Florida, police department’s handling of the Trayvon Martin shooting and an eight-month probe of the Seattle Police Department following the fatal shooting of a Native American woodcarver. The Seattle investigation produced a consent decree requiring major reforms. His division also reached settlements addressing gender identity discrimination in a New York school district and anti-LGBT harassment in Minnesota’s Anoka-Hennepin School District.
Secretary of Labor (2013–2017)
President Obama nominated Perez as Secretary of Labor on March 18, 2013. After a contentious confirmation process, the Senate confirmed him on July 18, 2013, by a 54–46 party-line vote, the first time a cabinet confirmation was decided strictly along party lines. As Labor Secretary, Perez issued the Home Care Rule extending minimum-wage and overtime protections to home care workers and implemented the Fiduciary Rule requiring retirement advisors to act in clients’ best interests.
Perez also issued the Persuader Rule requiring greater disclosure of anti-union consulting, launched a veterans’ employment website, and pushed for a regulation to expand overtime eligibility to millions of additional workers. He played a role in brokering the 2016 contract between Verizon and striking labor unions at the Department of Labor headquarters in Washington, D.C. He was mentioned as a possible vice-presidential running mate for Hillary Clinton in 2016 but was not selected.
Chair of the Democratic National Committee (2017–2021)
After the 2016 elections, Perez announced his candidacy for Chair of the Democratic National Committee and was elected on February 25, 2017, on the second ballot, narrowly defeating Representative Keith Ellison. He pledged to refuse donations from federal lobbyists, foreign nationals, and current Department of Labor employees, and received early endorsements from former Vice President Joe Biden and other Obama administration alumni. Perez appointed Ellison as deputy chair. He declined to seek reelection as DNC chair in 2021.
Maryland Gubernatorial Bid (2021–2022)
On June 23, 2021, Perez announced his campaign for the Democratic nomination for Governor of Maryland in the 2022 election, choosing former Baltimore City Council member Shannon Sneed as his running mate. He collected endorsements from major labor unions, including the Amalgamated Transit Union, AFSCME, and the Service Employees International Union, as well as from Speaker Nancy Pelosi and members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. He lost the July 19, 2022, Democratic primary to author and U.S. Army veteran Wes Moore, placing second.
Biden White House Era (2023–2025)
On June 12, 2023, President Joe Biden named Perez as Senior Advisor to the President and Director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs. In this role, Perez served as a key liaison between the Biden administration and state, local, and tribal governments. He participated in White House press briefings following the March 2024 collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Maryland.
Notable Events and Milestones
Among the most significant events in Perez’s career were his successful federal challenge to South Carolina’s 2011 voter ID law, his high-profile lawsuit against Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, and his Senate confirmation as Labor Secretary by the first party-line cabinet vote in U.S. history. His election as DNC chair in 2017 and his 2022 campaign for Maryland governor marked additional milestones in a career defined by civil rights enforcement and party leadership.
Tom Perez Awards
Honorary Degrees
In 2014, Perez received honorary doctorates recognizing his contributions to law, public policy, and civil rights. He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Laws from Brown University, his undergraduate alma mater, the same year. He also received an Honorary Doctorate of Laws from Drexel University School of Law, honoring his work in civil rights and labor law.
Perez was further recognized with an Honorary Doctorate of Humanities from Oberlin College in 2014, reflecting the breadth of his contributions to public service beyond the legal field. These three honorary degrees, conferred in a single year, underscored the wide respect he had earned across higher education by the midpoint of his tenure as Secretary of Labor.
Tom Perez Family
Family Background and Heritage
Perez comes from a Dominican-American family with a strong tradition of public service and medicine. His parents, Dr. Rafael Antonio de Jesús Pérez Lara and Grace Pérez, both emigrated from the Dominican Republic and settled in Buffalo, New York, where they raised five children. Four of the five siblings followed their father into medicine, while Thomas pursued law and public policy. His grandfather, Rafael Brache, served as Dominican Republic’s Ambassador to the United States.
Personal Life
Perez is married to Ann Marie Staudenmaier, an attorney with the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless. The couple has three children and resides in Takoma Park, Maryland. Perez is Catholic, and he has often recalled his parents’ teaching that one needs “letters of reference from poor people” to get to heaven, a saying that has shaped his lifelong focus on working families and economic justice.