Posted on 11/18/24
| News Source: FOX45
The former governor of Maryland and mayor of Baltimore City, Martin O'Malley, announced his plans to quit his day job and officially launched his campaign to be the next chairman of the Democratic National Committee, he revealed in an interview with The New York Times.
O'Malley announced his plan to step down from his Social Security Administrator commissioner position on Monday, Nov. 18. In a social media post, O'Malley thanked President Biden for his opportunity to serve as the leader of the SSA and his praise for the agency overall.
"It has been a great honor to serve alongside the people of the Social Security Administration, who have turned around this agency and put it on a better path forward. For the dignity of every individual, social security works," O'Malley wrote on X. "Thank you, Mr. President for the opportunity to have served so many Americans...with such a fine group of Americans. Stronger Together."
His bid for chairmanship comes at a chaotic time for the Democratic Party. Sunday, Former White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said that Democrats are in the "wilderness" without a "clear leader" after President-elect Donald Trump defeated Vice-President Kamala Harris.
“We face enormous challenges and a lot of soul-searching,” O'Malley told The New York Times. “We need to focus on fixing the problem and not the blame.”
O'Malley is expected to campaign on his experience as mayor, governor and one-time leader of the Democratic Governor's Association to land the position as chair of the DNC.
This is not the first time O'Malley is pursuing the party's leadership; he ran for DNC chair in 2016, but withdrew his candidacy early in the race. The current DNC Chairman, Jaime Harrison, is not expected to run for a second term.
I’m focused on the future. And I’m running for chair of the D.N.C. because I believe I can lead us out of this darkness and into a better future where we do a better job of connecting with the American people around the economic reality," he told The New York Times.
The former two-term governor is the first candidate to formally enter the race for DNC chair, though several other state Democratic Party leaders have been rumored to want to jump in as well.