DNC chair race kicks off as Ken Martin and Martin O’Malley launch bids

By Arit John and Sarah Ferris, CNN

(CNN) — Just two weeks after a bruising presidential election, the race to lead the Democratic Party has begun in earnest, with Minnesota Democratic party chair Ken Martin and former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley entering the race this week.

Martin and O’Malley have kicked off a roughly three-month sprint to the Democratic National Committee’s election of its next leader. The decision – which will be made by the roughly 450 members of the DNC early next year – comes as Democrats seek to regroup and rebrand after a devastating election cycle for their party, with Republicans reclaiming the presidency and the US Senate and holding on to the US House.

Martin O’Malley, the former Maryland governor and commissioner of the Social Security Administration, on Monday became the first person to announce a bid to lead the Democratic National Committee as the party plots a post-election path forward.

“We must organize in every state and speak to the economic concerns of every person in America,” O’Malley said in a statement provided to CNN. “Jobs, opportunity, economic security for all. These are the goals of our Party and these are the things that make our country stronger.”

With no Democrat leading from the White House, the next chair will become the face, and voice, of the party. The future chair will also oversee the debate around the party’s 2028 presidential primary calendar.

Democrats’ rules panel will hold a meeting next month to discuss the process for electing the next chair, who will replace outgoing leader Jaime Harrison. Democrats have not selected a date, but the new chair must be elected by March 1.

Martin and O’Malley are the first declared candidates in what is expected to be a crowded field. Democrats haven’t had an open election for chair since 2017, when former Labor Secretary Tom Perez beat then-Minnesota Rep. Keith Ellison in what was viewed as a proxy war between the establishment and progressive wings of the party.

This time around, several DNC members said they want to see someone from outside of Washington, DC, who will invest in building out the party’s infrastructure and organizing power.

“We definitely need to be looking outside of the beltway,” said New Hampshire Democratic Party chair Ray Buckley. “And it has to be somebody that really understands the strength of grassroots – and we need to get back to that. Spending hundreds of millions of dollars on television every election doesn’t seem to be getting us much.”

Martin could be joined in the race by another state party chair: Ben Wikler, the chair of the Wisconsin Democratic Party.

“It’s something he’s seriously considering, but no final decision has been made,” a source familiar with Wikler’s thinking told CNN.

Other potential candidates who have been making calls include former New Orleans Mayor and Biden administration official Mitch Landrieu, US Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel and outgoing California Sen. Laphonza Butler, according to a Democratic source with knowledge of the calls.

Martin enters the race with 83 endorsements from DNC members, according to his campaign, and deep relationships with committee members. He has led his state party since 2011, been a DNC vice chair since 2017 and leads the Association of State Democratic Committees, which lobbies for state parties.

“If you’re looking for a creature of DC, that’s not me,” Martin said in his announcement video. “But I do know how the DNC works – and how it isn’t working.”

Martin sketched out a path for Democrats in a Fox News op-ed Monday in which he argued one issue facing the party is that voters don’t associate Democratic policies – such as raising the minimum wage – with their candidates.

“In 2017, we found ourselves in an era of resistance,” he wrote. “In 2025, we need to counter the excesses and extremes of the new Trump administration while also defining a clear agenda which centers on the struggles of everyday Americans hoping to get ahead, not just get by.”

O’Malley, the commissioner of the Social Security Administration and a former 2016 Democratic presidential candidate, has also emphasized the economy in his pitch on how Democrats should proceed.

“We must organize in every state and speak to the economic concerns of every person in America,” O’Malley said in a statement provided to CNN. “Jobs, opportunity, economic security for all. These are the goals of our Party and these are the things that make our country stronger.”

O’Malley has had roughly 50 conversations with Democratic officials across the country in recent days as he has mulled a run, according to people familiar with the discussions. He has endorsements from three DNC members and has had encouraging conversations with Democrats including Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland and Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia.

“The feedback we’ve received is strong and encouraging,” O’Malley said.

As Democrats seek a new strategy, O’Malley has pitched the broad outlines of a plan to reimagine what the DNC looks like, such as empowering state parties. He would lean on his experience running the Democratic Governors Association, where he helped capture state-wide races in purple and red states like Kentucky, West Virginia and Montana. Of the three, Kentucky is the only state that still has a Democratic governor.

“There is a better day ahead,” O’Malley said. “But we must rebuild our Party so we can all get there together.”

The Maryland Democrat announced Monday his resignation from the Social Security Administration, which will take effect at the end of the month.

Among the many challenges facing the next DNC chair will be reshaping the 2028 Democratic presidential primary calendar. Last year, Democrats revamped their presidential primary calendar to put South Carolina first, followed by Nevada and New Hampshire, in conflict with the last state’s first-in-the-nation primary law.

The reshuffling, at the behest of President Joe Biden, was designed to elevate more diverse states but also played to Biden’s strengths. During his 2020 presidential campaign, Biden lost handily in the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary but made a comeback after winning the South Carolina primary.

This time, there will be no incumbent president to set the calendar, leaving states to jockey for themselves.

“As far as specific candidates for chair, don’t know who that will be, but the one thing I do know is that we are the litmus test for America,” said Nevada Democratic party chair Daniele Monroe-Moreno. “All roads to the White House lead through this state, and we know how to win here.”

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