The campaign of former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, one of the candidates running for the Democratic National Committee chairmanship, announced Monday it had the backing of 65 DNC members.
“The governor jumped in this race a bit over a month and a half ago now, and since then, I think the most important thing to note is that he’s had the ability to earn the support of over 65 members of the DNC, voting members of the DNC that comes from the work that he’s been putting in,” an O’Malley aide told reporters Monday. “He’s working the phones every single day, has been for over a month and a half now.”
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At least two endorsements are from former DNC chairs, including Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) and David Wilhelm, who led the DNC under former President Bill Clinton. DNC members will vote on Feb. 1 at their winter meeting on who will succeed outgoing Chairman Jaime Harrison. Voting could take place over multiple ballots, and the candidate who gets the majority support among the 448 members will win.
O’Malley’s campaign implied that it had more support among voting members than at least one of the two front-runners in the race, Minnesota Democratic Farmer-Labor Party Chairman Ken Martin and Wisconsin Democratic Party Chairman Ben Wikler.
“This is a three-way race, and we are not in third place,” said the aide, calling out Wikler for being unclear on support from DNC members.
Martin’s campaign previously disclosed it had more than 100 endorsements out of 448 DNC members, including 20 state party leaders. A source familiar said out of 100 backers, 86 have publicly endorsed Martin, with 22 announced Monday.
Wikler’s campaign has not disclosed an exact number of backers. Another chairman candidate, New York State Sen. James Skoufis, said he has 23 DNC members backing his campaign.
Yet, in a statement to the Washington Examiner, a Wikler spokesperson disputed O’Malley’s claims.
“We are confident we have more support from actual voting members and that this is a two-candidate race,” the spokesperson said.
Wikler has the backing of some prominent Democrats, including Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, and North Carolina Democratic Party Chairwoman Anderson Clayton.
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Despite the tussle over DNC supporters, the chair race has seen many similarities among the eight candidates who participated in the DNC’s first virtual forum over the weekend over how to move the Democratic Party forward after President Joe Biden leaves office.
As President-elect Donald Trump prepares for inauguration festivities this weekend, O’Malley’s campaign remains focused on winning back working American families that broke for Trump during the November presidential election.
“We are not only holding the Trump administration accountable when they break things, but we’re also putting a positive vision forward,” said the aide, describing how O’Malley views Trump’s return to power.