WASHINGTON, D.C. (NewsNation) — In the wake of November’s election that saw Republicans win the trifecta — the White House and majorities in the House and Senate — Democrats have been soul-searching.

Part of that includes a search for new party leadership. Whoever wins the race for chair of the Democratic National Committee will be responsible for the party’s new direction, pushing back against the incoming Trump administration and creating Democratic wins in future elections.

NewsNation has interviewed all four of the candidates up for the job. Below is a Q&A conducted with Martin O’Malley, a former governor of Maryland, who is vying for the position. Read Q&As with the other candidates here.

The interview has been edited and paraphrased for clarity and length.

NewsNation: What went into your decision to run for DNC chair?

O’Malley: When Donald Trump won for the second time, I kind of tossed and turned for a couple days because I now understand, as I think many people do, that the republic is in real dire straits right now, and the only thing that stands between saving the republic and losing the republic is our ability to quickly rebuild and reconnect and get the Democratic Party battle-ready for the elections that are coming.

I'm not running to fix blame, although, of course, we have to look at what we did wrong. We have to learn from the few places where we did things right. But I am running to turn around our party in order to save our country. That was my thought process, and I am in this to win this. And doors are opening all over the country, and I'm excited about the future.

NewsNation: What is your message as a candidate for DNC chair?

O’Malley: What the DNC needs is not a caretaker. We need a change maker. I am probably the best operational turnaround leader in our party today that is willing to do this, and I proved it most recently in the biggest domestic program in America [Social Security Administration], when the President asked me to pull it out of a customer service meltdown.

Second, I am the only........

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