Former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley is resigning as Social Security Administration commissioner to run for chairman of the Democratic National Committee, according to a letter O’Malley sent President Joe Biden Monday. His resignation as Social Security head takes effect Nov. 29.

O’Malley, who also served two terms as mayor of Baltimore, has had several conversations in recent weeks with Democratic leaders around the country who are said to support his vision for the party. The Baltimore Banner previously reported O’Malley was exploring whether to make a run for DNC chair.

Current DNC Chairman Jaime Harrison, of South Carolina, is not expected to seek a second term. O’Malley is the first candidate to openly declare for the chairmanship, though speculation abounds about several other possible entrants.

In 2016, with the party similarly apoplectic about its electoral future in the immediate aftermath of a Donald Trump victory, O’Malley ran for the DNC chair but withdrew his candidacy early on. That same year, O’Malley also tried to win the Democratic presidential nomination but was unsuccessful in distinguishing himself from Hillary Clinton and faced tough questions about his governance of Baltimore, specifically his approach to crime.

Former Maryland Democratic Party Chairwoman Yvette Lewis is one of many people who have had conversations with O’Malley about running the DNC. While Lewis declined in an interview last week to say what she and the former governor discussed, she said O’Malley was “instrumental” in her success and the party’s when they were both in power.

With experience at all three levels of government and having run the Democratic Governors Association, O’Malley will point to his track record in the coming weeks as he seeks to garner support within the DNC. In an interview with The New York Times, O’Malley described himself as a “proven operational leader and a turnaround manager.”

Democrats have engaged in rounds of finger-pointing about how Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign failed and whether Biden should have stepped aside earlier than he did, or if he should’ve stepped aside at all.

O’Malley declined to comment on Biden’s decision or Harris’ performance. The focus, he said, should be on the future and whether Democrats can come “out of this darkness.”

“I can’t fix yesterday,” O’Malley told The Times. “I’m not running to fix yesterday or second-guess yesterday.”

He said part of the reason Harris lost was because Americans, consumed by the politics of fear, took their eyes off the ball.

“We have to engage in the economic arguments as to why the choices that we [Democrats] are making are better for Americans all over the country,” O’Malley told The Times.

Should he be successful in winning the DNC chair — there are 447 voting members and the election will likely take place in the first half of 2025 — those in O’Malley’s orbit describe a desire to build out a modern 50 state strategy. The original 50 state strategy from Howard Dean shepherded Democrats through the 2006 and 2008 elections, a time when O’Malley was considered one of the bright rising stars in the party.

O’Malley is expected to spend the coming weeks courting delegates. So far, according to a source with knowledge of the conversations, O’Malley has spoken with Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen; Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin; the party chairs in Texas, Iowa and Massachusetts; former Montana Gov. Steve Bullock; and former Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear.