ATLANTA — Former Labor Secretary Tom Perez was elected as the first Latino chairman of the Democratic National Committee on Saturday, defeating Representative Keith Ellison at a contentious party meeting in Atlanta.

‘‘With hard work and a hell of a lot of organizing, we will turn this party around,’’ said Perez, his voice hoarse after a week that took him to 10 states, locking up the final votes he needed from the 447-member DNC.

‘‘We've got to come out of here hand in hand, brothers and sisters, because Trump is right outside of that door,’’ said Ellison before the final vote, which came on a second ballot.

The Minnesota representative’s defeat was a blow to the party’s liberal wing, personified by activists, labor leaders, and organizers who had come to Atlanta to cheer him on.

Supporters of Senator Bernie Sanders, independent of Vermont, who had lobbied hard for Ellison, worried that the party was alienating the growing ‘‘resistance’’ that has organized against President Trump.

‘‘If you polled Democrats outside of this room, Keith would win,’’ said Jeff Weaver, ‘‘Keith’s support is from the people on the street.’’

The vote itself was tense. On Friday night, Democrats gathered at a hotel to meet, drink, and lobby for votes, and the Ellison campaign — along with allies of South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg, a third candidate — battled rumors that Perez might have locked up the needed votes.

But by Saturday morning, it was clear that the race was up for grabs. Buttigieg used his nomination speech to quit the race, endorsing no candidate.

As the 439 present DNC members cast their votes — eight eligible members did not attend — several DNC members got a text from the Ellison camp, saying the representative was ‘‘grateful to have the support of Mayor Buttigieg.’’

After the mayor denied the text, Perez won 213.5 votes to 200 for Ellison, 12 for Idaho Democratic Party executive director Sally Boynton Brown, 0.5 for Democratic strategist Jehmu Greene. and 1 for Buttigieg. Greene had backed Perez.

Perez, 55, the son of Dominican immigrants, has held several state and federal government jobs and was labor secretary under President Obama.

His victory did not represent a Democratic shift to the right. On key issues, Perez’s platform mostly resembled Ellison's.

Perez promised to refocus on small donors and online fund-raising; Ellison set a goal for ‘‘low-dollar contributions from everyday Americans [to] account for 33 percent of revenue.’’ Ellison called for an ‘‘Innovation Hub’’ in Silicon Valley; Perez promoted DNC fellowships to ‘‘encourage developers, programmers, data scientists, [and] engineers.’’

While Perez and Ellison praised each other personally, the race was defined for outsiders by Ellison’s backing by Sanders.

Ellison was one of very few members of Congress who had backed Sanders for president. He billed himself as the ‘‘unity candidate’’ who would keep Sanders’ supporters in the party while embracing supporters of Hillary Clinton.

In the first weeks after Ellison declared his candidacy, the strategy seemed to be working, despite hiccups. Labor unions that had endorsed Clinton, like the American Federation of Teachers and the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, got behind Ellison.

Howard Dean, the most successful chairman in modern party history, dropped his plans to run again when Ellison said he would resign from Congress if elected to the full-time job.

Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York, who had clashed with Dean over strategy and investments, endorsed Ellison and defended the first Muslim member of Congress against charges of anti-Semitism.

But veterans of the Obama administration, where Perez had been a popular leader, encouraged him to run, and starting Dec. 15, he did. Progressive media frequently covered the race as a clash between ‘‘the establishment’’ and the ‘‘revolution’’ that had been proven right by the 2016 election.

That wasn’t how most DNC members chose to see it. Over a series of public forums, the final one broadcast on CNN last week, Ellison and Perez declined to criticize each other. While progressive media accused Perez of protecting the party’s consultant class, DNC members who broke for Perez said that he had convinced them that he knew what state parties needed.

‘‘Tom seemed to have a better handle on the job,’’ said Kathy Sullivan, the former chairwoman of New Hampshire’s Democratic Party, who endorsed Perez after current state chairman Ray Buckley quit the race.