I was pleased to see that the U. S. Senate handily confirmed Tom Perez to run the U.S. Department of Justice's civil rights division this week. Tom has been a mover and shaker wherever he's worked, including as my representative on the Montgomery County council from 2002-2006 -- and as my co-coach of my daughter Becca's basketball team (full disclosure: he's a better player than I am) .

In 2006 Tom and I co-authored a commentary on voting reform proposals that showed his willingness to bring a reform perspective to how we run elections. In his new post he will be enforcing the law as written, but supporters of fair elections and voting rights know they will get a fair hearing when coming to the DOJ.