Two Marylanders face new competition in bid for DNC chair

Carson Swick, The Baltimore Sun on Dec 26, 2024

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Two Maryland politicians are being considered to become the next chair of the Democratic National Committee, vying to lead a political party that is rebuilding after November losses in the White House and both chambers of Congress.

Former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley and nonprofit executive-turned Senate hopeful Robert Houton are on the increasingly long list of candidates vying to lead the DNC following its Feb. 1 election to replace outgoing Chair Jaime Harrison.

Author and former presidential candidate Marianne Williamson was the latest competitor to launch her bid Thursday.

O’Malley, Houton and Williamson represent wildly different political figures and are reflective of the growing list of DNC chair candidates. The field also includes Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party chair Ken Martin and Wisconsin Democratic Party chair Ben Wikler.

O’Malley, who served as mayor of Baltimore from 1999 to 2007 before becoming governor and launching a failed presidential bid in 2016, has chalked up the party’s 2024 defeat to its leaders growing out of touch with everyday Americans on “kitchen table” issues such as the economy. He has touted his record as chair of the Democratic Governors Association — which he did while in Annapolis from 2011 to 2012 — and repeatedly called for rejecting “the politics of fear.”

“It’s time to get back to the party of FDR. The party that says there is nothing to fear but fear itself,” O’Malley wrote on X/Twitter Dec. 5 upon announcing his bid.

O’Malley has received endorsements from both of Maryland’s incumbent senators, Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen, as well as Senate-elect Angela Alsobrooks.

Houton has a more colorful recent political history. A relative unknown from Bethesda, he campaigned on tackling opioid abuse in Maryland’s 2024 Democratic Senate primary but garnered less than 2,000 votes — just 0.29% — of the vote in Maryland’s 2024 Democratic Senate primary, a race dominated by eventual Senate-elect Alsobrooks and Rep. David Trone.

Despite hoping to become the party’s nominee against former GOP Gov. Larry Hogan, Houton ultimately endorsed Hogan in October while calling out Alsobrooks for what he called a campaign based on “lying, fear-mongering, name-calling and blame-gaming.”

Thus far, Houton has not received the endorsement of any Maryland big wigs, but still has time to campaign before the party selects its new chair during its annual winter meeting in National Harbor, Prince George’s County.

The ultimate choice for DNC chair will be tasked with rebuilding a party in the political wilderness — Republicans will hold a trifecta in the 119th Congress — amidst criticisms it has lost sight of pivotal working-class voters.

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