Maryland ex-Governor O’Malley kicks off Democratic Party leadership race

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Former Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley on Monday said he would resign as head of the U.S. Social Security Administration to run to head the Democratic National Committee.

O’Malley told President Joe Biden he would resign effective Nov. 29, the New York Times reported.

“We must connect our Party with the most important place in America — the kitchen table of every family’s home. Jobs, Opportunity, and Economic Security for all. Getting things done. Hope. A 50 state strategy. Now,” O’Malley said in a posting on X.

O’Malley, who mounted a short-lived presidential campaign in 2016, ran for DNC chair after Hillary Clinton’s defeat to Donald Trump, but lost out to Tom Perez, who held the role from 2017 to 2021.

O’Malley is the first candidate to openly seek the DNC leadership spot as the party tries to reshape itself after the bracing 2024 presidential loss and Republicans’ takeover of both chambers of Congress.

Other contenders for the DNC post include Ben Wikler, head of the Wisconsin Democratic Party; Minnesota Democratic party chief Ken Martin; close Biden aide Mitch Landrieu, also a former New Orleans mayor; and Senator Laphonza Butler of California, who was appointed to fill the seat of late Senator Dianne Feinstein in 2023 and chose not to run for a full term this year.

Current DNC Chairman Jaime Harrison, of South Carolina, is not expected to seek a second term after the decisive defeat of Vice President Kamala Harris by Republican Donald Trump this month raised questions about the future direction of the Democratic Party.

(Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Editing by Leslie Adler)