Democracy Dies in Darkness

Donald Fowler, who co-led Democratic National Committee in mid-1990s, dies at 85

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December 16, 2020 at 12:51 p.m. EST
Democratic National Committee co-chairman Donald Fowler, center, is flanked by President Clinton, left, and actor Alec Baldwin in 1996. (Joe Marquette/AP)

Donald L. Fowler, a former chairman of the Democratic National Committee and mainstay of South Carolina and national politics for decades, died Dec. 15 in Columbia, S.C. He was 85.

DNC Associate Chairman Jaime Harrison said Mr. Fowler had leukemia. No other details were immediately available.

A South Carolina native, communications executive and college teacher, Mr. Fowler led the state party from 1971 to 1980. He also oversaw the 1988 Democratic National Convention in Atlanta, which launched Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis with fanfare to battle unsuccessfully against GOP rival George H.W. Bush.