Chuck Rocha, a Convicted Felon Who Embezzled Union Funds, Eyes Bid for DNC Chair

Democratic operative pleaded guilty in 2013 to embezzling funds from the United Steelworkers Union

Chuck Rocha, a Democratic operative and CNN contributor who was convicted of embezzling funds from a major labor union, is eying a bid to lead the Democratic National Committee.

The former adviser to Bernie Sanders’s 2016 presidential campaign said this week he is “seriously considering” a run for DNC chair in order to shake up the party after its landslide losses to Republicans earlier this month. Former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley and Minnesota Democratic Party leader Ken Martin jumped into the race this week. Former Obama chief of staff Rahm Emanuel is also reportedly mulling a bid to lead the committee.

Progressives have already come out against Emanuel. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.) called Emanuel, the current ambassador to Japan, a symptom of the “seed of the party’s political crisis.” Liberal news outlets have questioned Emanuel’s “suspiciously timed” stock trades as ambassador to Japan, and rehashed his tenure as mayor of Chicago during the police shooting of Laquan McDonald.

But Rocha could face his own headwinds to the DNC throne. Rocha pleaded guilty in 2013 to embezzling funds from the United Steelworkers Union, where he served as political director. He was sentenced to 24 months probation after admitting to misusing labor union credit cards in 2008 and 2009 to pay for golf outings and tickets to the Stanley Cup.

Rocha faced some scrutiny over his conviction after he joined the Bernie Sanders campaign in 2016 but has since emerged as a top consultant for Democratic groups and political candidates.

Ocasio-Cortez’s campaign paid Rocha’s firm, Solidarity Strategies, more than $350,000 for ad production this election cycle, according to campaign finance disclosures. The DNC and Future Forward PAC, the largest outside group that supported Kamala Harris, paid Rocha’s firm more than $900,000 and $120,000, respectively.

Though Rocha has yet to officially throw his hat in the ring, he has already proposed the type of diversity initiatives that some observers have blamed for a broad shift away from the party. He has called for mandates that Democratic state parties “be more inclusive,” with a focus on diversity when hiring consultants, CBS News reported.

That message appears at odds with what he told CNN this week about his vision for the party should he take over the DNC.

“I want to do this because I want to return the party back to what we were when I joined—fighting for middle-class values, being the party of workers, being the party of the common man, making Democrats fun again,” said Rocha, who noted he is the only senior national Democratic operative without a college degree.

“These men that are leaving the party: I was that man 20 years ago driving a truck, hunting and fishing, probably doing a lot of dumb things,” said Rocha. “I know how to talk to them.”