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

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.

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.