Ben & Jerry back Ellison in DNC race

The co-founders of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream on Thursday endorsed Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) for the Democratic National Committee (DNC) chairmanship.

“Ellison is an authentic champion of working families and he’s ready to bring that energy and mindset to the Democratic Party,” Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield said in a joint U.S. News op-ed published Thursday.

While the ice cream company has released flavors named after public figures, including comedian Stephen Colbert and musicians Dave Matthews and Jerry Garcia, the pair don’t announce plans for an Ellison-themed flavor in their op-ed. Instead, they pitch the Minnesota politician as part of the party’s “next generation” of leaders.

“The Democratic Party now faces a critical choice: seek out new, young leadership to electrify the next generation so they can take back the state houses, take back the governor’s mansions, take back Congress and take back the White House in order to usher in a new age of good government and social justice,” they added. “Or stick to business-as-usual that the people have already rejected at the ballot box. Let’s try something new.”

Ellison is one of the two leading candidates in the race ahead of a late February vote, a favorite of the party’s Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) wing who is facing off against former Labor secretary and Obama administration favorite Tom Perez.

{mosads}Cohen and Greenfield said 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s loss to now-President Trump is evidence that the party should abandon its old-guard politicians.

“People are so fed-up, sick-and-tired, mad-as-hell that they actually elected Donald Trump over the Democratic ‘establishment’ candidate,” said the pair, who both endorsed Sanders over Clinton in last year’s Democratic presidential primary.

“Think about that: Despite a historically low 45 percent approval rating, Trump was the victor. Despite his vulgarity, untrustworthiness and dangerous policy proposals, he won.”

The crowded DNC race currently boasts seven candidates, with Ellison and Perez widely considered its front-runners.

Sanders has publicly campaigned for Ellison, helping the Minnesota lawmaker court the same grassroots progressives who buoyed the Vermont senator’s insurgent White House run.

Former Vice President Joe Biden endorsed Perez on Wednesday, giving the former Labor Secretary the most high-profile Democratic blessing in the race so far.

The DNC’s 447 members are scheduled to vote on their party’s next chairperson during the organization’s annual winter retreat, which starts on Feb. 23.

The chairmanship’s other contenders include Idaho Democratic Party Executive Director Sally Boynton Brown, New Hampshire Democratic Party Chairman Raymond Buckley, South Bend, Ind. Mayor Pete Buttigieg, former Fox News commentator Jehmu Greene and South Carolina Democratic Party Chairman Jaime Harrison.