The race for Democratic Party chair has officially launched with a onetime Maryland governor and unsuccessful presidential candidate Martin O'Malley announcing a bid to take the reins. O'Malley, who has faded from the national scene of late,

Mr. O’Malley, who ran for president in 2016, is the first candidate to announce a bid to lead the reeling Democratic Party as it faces two years of powerlessness in Washington.

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.