Former Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) at the unveiling of his official portrait last year in Government House. Photo courtesy the Governor’s Office.
As Democrats scramble to set a new course after their wipe-out in the presidential election last week, former Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) is kicking the tires on a possible run to become the next chair of the Democratic National Committee.
O’Malley is one of several Democrats who have been mentioned as potential contenders to replace Jaime Harrison as the DNC chair in early 2025.
Colm O’Comartun, a former top O’Malley aide who was executive director of the Democratic Governors Association when O’Malley chaired that political committee, said several party leaders and activists have reached out to the former Maryland governor since Election Day and are urging him to consider a bid.
“He really believes in building the party and building the organization and helping people who want to run for office,” O’Comartun said of his ex-boss.
O’Malley currently heads the Social Security Administration, but his term runs out in late January, days after former President Donald Trump is set to be sworn in as the 47th president. The chances of O’Malley being reappointed to the post — and his desire to serve under Trump — are zero.
Even so, O’Malley is prevented by the federal Hatch Act from conducting political activities while he remains in the SSA job, so former aides are informally guiding him and helping him reach out to fellow Democrats, O’Comartun and three other former O’Malley advisers said this week.
Harrison, a former chair of the South Carolina Democratic Party, has spent the past four years atop the DNC, but has signaled he plans to step down when his term ends.
The DNC’s 440 voting members must elect a new chair and other officers between Jan. 1 and March 1, and Politico reported Tuesday that the DNC is tentatively planning to schedule the vote for Feb. 13. The DNC’s Rules and Bylaws Committee will meet next month in Washington, D.C., to set a process for electing a new chair.
Unlike recent post-election periods, there do not appear to be any powerful Democratic figures, like newly elected or soon-to-be-departing presidents, ready to influence the vote, meaning the election to replace Harrison could turn into a dogfight.
National political parties seek different things from their leaders depending on the party’s electoral standing and the prevailing political environment. The job requires a combination of political strategy, organizing skills, fundraising chops and the ability to craft and amplify an effective message.
Race, gender, geography, ideology and generational factors, along with prevailing and emerging political alliances, could also impact the DNC members’ votes. It’s often an insiders’ game that defies normal campaign story arcs.
According to published reports and conversations with high-ranking Democrats, potential candidates besides O’Malley include:
- Stacey Abrams, the former Georgia legislator and two-time gubernatorial nominee;
- Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear;
- Michael Blake, a former member of the New York State Assembly who was a DNC vice chair;
- Pete Buttigieg, the U.S. Transportation secretary and former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, who ran for president in 2020 and is contemplating a run for governor of Michigan in 2026;
- outgoing U.S. Sen. Laphonza Butler of California, who has been serving on an interim basis for 13 months;
- Rahm Emanuel, the U.S. ambassador to Japan who has also served in Congress, as mayor of Chicago and as a top White House aide under two presidents;
- former New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu, who is a White House policy adviser;
- Minnesota Democratic Chair Ken Martin;
- New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, a former Goldman Sachs executive;
- former Texas congressman Beto O’Rourke;
- Stephanie Schriock, a former president of EMILY’s List and seasoned strategist;
- and Wisconsin Democratic Chair Ben Wikler.
Other candidates could emerge, and several will no doubt have their high-profile and influential advocates. Key Democratic-aligned interest groups are sure to start weighing in.
Through history, only four women have served as DNC chair — and two only held the job for a matter of months, on an interim basis.
Political commentator David Axelrod, who worked in the Obama White House with Emanuel, endorsed his former colleague for the job on his podcast “Hacks on Tap” this week, citing Emanuel’s organizational achievements, including his stint as chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in the 2006 election cycle, when the Democrats seized control of Congress. Axelrod called Emanuel “the most skilled in-fighter in the Democratic Party.”
Cheryl Landis, a member of the DNC from Maryland, said Wednesday she has yet to be contacted by potential contenders but expects she will be soon. While she said she is not ready to commit to any of the candidates, she said she knows O’Malley well and described him as “perfect for the position.”
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“He did an excellent job when he was governor,” said Landis, a former state delegate from Prince George’s County. “He served us well. I believe that where the Democratic Party is at this juncture, the DNC really needs a chair who listens to the people, who thinks seriously and can lead us strategically.”
O’Comartun, a partner in two D.C.-based public affairs firms who worked for O’Malley when he was mayor and governor, said the Marylander has political and policy skills and a wealth of contacts across the nation, from his time at the Democratic Governors Association — he was chair from 2010 to 2012, vice chair from 2008 to 2010, and finance chair in 2007 and 2008 — and his short-lived presidential campaign in 2016.
One question for DNC members is whether they’ll want to turn to a former governor who last held political office in early 2015 and last won an election in 2010. O’Comartun touted O’Malley’s work ethic and said his year-long tenure at the Social Security Administration, where he traveled the country to meet with employees and stakeholders, will also be an asset, since he has made the agency more customer-friendly and rebuilt morale in the workforce.
“There are a lot of smart people in the Democratic Party who are too happy to tell people what they ought to do,” O’Comartun said. “Gov. O’Malley will spend his time talking with and listening to the people. I think he’s the right guy to bring order, to bring structure.”
This marks the second time O’Malley has contemplated running for the national committee post. He also publicly pondered the race after the 2016 election, when Trump won his first term. He eventually decided against a bid, opting instead to endorse Buttigieg — who wound up one of the runners-up to the ultimate victor, Marylander Tom Perez. Perez, who had served in O’Malley’s administration, later went into the Obama administration, and former President Barack Obama urged him into the DNC race, which he won narrowly over then-U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison of Minnesota.
O’Comartun and other former O’Malley advisers said they expect the campaign for DNC chair to begin in earnest after Thanksgiving, and that they expect O’Malley to be closer to making a decision sometime next month.
“Now is the time to talk about it,” O’Comartun said. “Now is not the time to launch a campaign.”