Former Maryland Governor Is First to Announce Bid for DNC Chair

‘We must connect our party with the most important place in America—the kitchen table of every family’s home,’ said Martin O’Malley.

Social Security Commissioner Martin O’Malley testifies before the Senate Committee on the Budget during a hearing entitled “Social Security Forever: Delivering Benefits and Protecting Retirement Security” in Washington on Sept. 11, 2024. Anna Rose Layden/Getty Images

The race to succeed Jaime Harrison as the new chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) began on Nov. 18 with the entrance of former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley.

O’Malley, who was also mayor of Baltimore from 1999 to 2007 and briefly ran in the 2016 Democratic presidential primary, said he would be resigning as head of the Social Security Administration to run for the position of DNC chair.