Maryland's Martin O'Malley Drops Bid for DNC Chairman

BALTIMORE, MD — More Democratic Party leaders are expressing interest in serving as its national leader, but former Maryland governor Martin O'Malley has withdrawn his name for consideration less than a week after saying he was "taking a hard look" at running for the crucial post. In the wake of the 2016 presidential election that blindsided Democrats and has many of them questioning how they regain supporters, the position is key to efforts to reform the party and regain elected offices in 2018.

O'Malley, who unsuccessfully sought the Democratic nomination for president, said Friday he was mulling whether to throw his hat in the ring for the Democratic National Committee chairmanship. "Since the election, I have been approached by many Democrats who believe our party needs new leadership," O'Malley said then.

But on Wednesday morning O'Malley sent an email to supporters that said he will not seek the chairmanship.

"The DNC needs a chair who can do the job fully and with total impartiality. The national interest must come first," O'Malley said in his email. "In the days ahead, my family and I will continue to do everything in our power to fight for the Democratic Party, and for the more compassionate and inclusive country that we carry in our hearts. We are one, our cause is one, and we must help each other if we are to succeed."

Respected political site The Hill on Wednesday had endorsed O'Malley before his announcement to step out of the DNC chairman field was made.

"At a time when the party faces an identity crisis between the highly liberal wing of Sen. Sanders and the highly centrist wing of Sec. Clinton, O’Malley represents the rarest strain of all — a true progressive that actually gets things done," The Hillwrote.

Over the summer, DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz resigned after WikiLeaks released emails that indicated she worked with other Democratic Party officials to push candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders out of the primary.

In discussions about the Democratic party's future leadership, two other names were early contenders: Rep. Keith Ellison (Minnesota) and former DNC Chair Howard Dean, according to The Washington Post. Ellison has received support from Sanders, who says the Minneapolis area Congressman — who is an African-American and a Muslim — could draw voters from both of those groups back to the party.

NARAL Pro-Choice America President Ilyse Hogue on Tuesday became the first woman to formally express interest in heading the DNC, reports NBC News. Other potential candidates include former Labor Secretary Tom Perez and South Carolina Democratic Party Chair Jaime Harrison.

O'Malley, who was Maryland governor from 2007 to 2015 and Baltimore mayor from 1999 to 2007, unsuccessfully ran for the Democratic nomination for President last year but suspended his campaign in February after getting only 1 percent of the vote at the Iowa caucuses. Once he withdrew from the primary, he threw his support behind former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who lost the election Tuesday to Republican Donald Trump.

O'Malley called Trump a "bully racist" and "immigrant-bashing carnival barker," speaking at the Democratic National Convention in July.

The DNC does not have a time frame for selecting a new chair, according to NBC, which said the interim chair does not want the permanent job and before identifying a new leader, the party will first conduct a post-mortem on the election.

“...If they wanted me to be the DNC chair I would do it and do it well,” O’Malley said in an interview with the Boston Globe over the summer. “But I am sure I am not the only person who could do that job well.”

Related:

• Former Gov. Martin O'Malley Endorses Hillary Clinton for President
• Former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley Rips Donald Trump as ‘Bully Racist’

»Former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley called Republican nominee a "bully racist," during his speech Wednesday at the Democratic National Convention. Capital News Service photo by Hannah Klarner.