DNC chair candidate O'Malley says he’s 'probably one of the best operational turnaround leaders' in party

Former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, who is running to be the next chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), described himself as the candidate who is likely one of the “best operational turnaround leaders” in the party’s history.

“It is a change-maker election, and we need to make some changes if we’re going to win,” O’Malley said in an interview with MSNBC’s Jen Psaki on Sunday.

He said the DNC should not elect a “caretaker” as chair, or someone who would continue to do things as they have been done.

Democrats are reeling from a deeply disappointing election that saw them lose the White House to President-elect Trump. The party also lost the Senate majority and failed to win back the House majority.

The battle to be the next chair of the DNC is being waged in the context of how the party can best emerge from its losses.

O’Malley noted that among the other candidates, he’s the only one that’s led a national committee. He served as the chair of the Democratic Governors Association from 2011 to 2013.

Roughly half a dozen candidates have entered the race.

O’Malley pointed out that he is the only candidate that previously served as governor and mayor, underscoring his experience as a successful candidate. He noted that he served and was reelected amid the 2008 recession because he was focused on “economic kitchen-table concerns.”

“Finally, I am probably one of the best operational turnaround leaders in our party today, and I’ve proven it at every level including when the president asked me to turn Social Security around so it would not collapse in a customer service meltdown in an election year,” O’Malley said.

President Biden tapped O’Malley in 2023 to be commissioner of the Social Security Administration.

O’Malley said the new DNC chair needs to “talk to the people on the front lines.”

“We need to create a 'Center for Digital Communications Excellence' within the DNC. Our candidates should not have to rely on their brother-in-law’s best guess as to where to place Facebook ads,” he said.

The party’s candidates, O’Malley argued, should be provided with top-of-the-line marketing analytics, technology and techniques to they can “actually communicate that economic message.”