Former governor and presidential candidate becomes first to launch bid to chair Democratic Party

Former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley on Monday became the first person to announce a bid for chair of the Democratic National Committee.

"I’m excited to offer my candidacy for Chair of the DNC," the former two-term Baltimore mayor and two-term Maryland governor who ran for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination said.

‘We must connect our Party with the most important place in America — the kitchen table of every family’s home. Jobs, Opportunity, and Economic Security for all. Getting things done. Hope. A 50 state strategy. Now," O’Malley emphasized in a social media post.

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O'Malley, who for the last year has served as commissioner of the Social Security Administration in President Biden's administration, is hoping to succeed current DNC chair Jaime Harrison, whose term is up early next year. 

Harrison is unlikely to seek a second four-year term steering the party in the wake of this month's very disappointing election results for the Democrats, up and down the ballot.

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O'Malley, who led the Democratic Governors Association following his gubernatorial re-election in 2010, showcased himself in a New York Times interview published on Monday as a "proven operational leader and a turnaround manager."

"We face enormous challenges and a lot of soul-searching," the 61-year-old O'Malley said in the interview. "We need to focus on fixing the problem and not the blame."

The next DNC chair will be chosen by the roughly 450 voting members of the national party committee, and O'Malley told the New York Times that he was launching his bid with three endorsements from DNC members and was speaking with others over the past few days.

But another longtime DNC member, who asked to remain anonymous to speak more freely, when asked about O'Malley, said, "Who? Where's he been for the past nine years?"

While O'Malley's first to launch a bid, others are expected to follow, as the Democrats try to rebound after losing the White House and Senate in the 2024 elections and failing to recapture the House.

Among those mulling a bid is Rahm Emanuel, a former congressman, Chicago mayor, White House chief of staff and current U.S. ambassador to Japan. Two sources in the DNC orbit confirmed to Fox News last week that Emanuel had been quietly reaching out to committee members as he contemplates a bid.