--- title: Martin O'Malley Phoned Hillary Clinton Ahead of Presidential Launch description: Barely 24 hours before launching his campaign to challenge Hillary Clinton, former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley phoned the Democratic presidential front-runner canonical: https://time.com/3902421/martin-omalley-hillary-clinton/ author: Sam Frizell article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-05-30T13:52:01.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:41:43.857Z article:section: Politics og:title: Martin O'Malley Phoned Hillary Clinton Ahead of His Presidential Launch og:description: The call was brief and cordial og:url: https://time.com/3902421/martin-omalley-hillary-clinton/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb99aff32891fc7d7/6988524f428a9e275fccd795/martin-omalley-presidential.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4000 og:image:height: 2250 og:image:alt: maryland governor martin o'malley og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Martin O'Malley Phoned Hillary Clinton Ahead of His Presidential Launch twitter:description: The call was brief and cordial twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb99aff32891fc7d7/6988524f428a9e275fccd795/martin-omalley-presidential.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Martin O'Malley Phoned Hillary Clinton Ahead of His Presidential Launch > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=6e19bb56-cc29-4664-bc21-625f8f54adba&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Martin O'Malley Is Running For President [Watch (HLS stream): Martin O'Malley Is Running For President](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/moCjIrlL.m3u8) (1:39)  _Published 2015-05-30. Former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley announced his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination Saturday, but he has a steep popularity gap to beat._ by [Sam Frizell](https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell May 30, 2015 1:52 PM UTC  Former Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley is joined by his wife Katie O'Malley (R) as he announces his intention to seek the Democratic presidential nomination during a speech in Federal Hill Park in Baltimore, Maryland, on May 30, 2015. Former Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley is joined by his wife Katie O'Malley (R) as he announces his intention to seek the Democratic presidential nomination during a speech in Federal Hill Park in Baltimore, Maryland, on May 30, 2015. Jim Bourg—Reuters by [Sam Frizell](https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell May 30, 2015 1:52 PM UTC Barely 24 hours before launching his campaign to challenge Hillary Clinton, former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley phoned the Democratic presidential front-runner to personally inform her of his plans. The call between the two Democratic rivals was brief and cordial, and came on the same day that O’Malley filed his candidacy papers with the Federal Election Commission, according to two sources familiar with the conversation. O’Malley, the two-term governor of Maryland who left office in January, is launching his presidential campaign Saturday morning in Baltimore, the city where he spent seven years as mayor. Clinton and O’Malley have a complicated relationship as fellow Democratic party notables. O’Malley was one of the first Democratic governors to endorse Clinton’s candidacy for president in the 2008 election, and was a major fundraiser for the then-Senator. Last year, former president Bill Clinton strongly praised O’Malley’s time as governor. But as he has prepared to run for the White House, O’Malley has staked out a position to Hillary Clinton’s left on an array of policies, including trade, Wall Street reform and immigration. While he has largely refrained from directly attacking her, he has made a point of emphasizing their disagreements at every juncture. On the call, O’Malley told Clinton that he is running because he believes it’s time for “new leadership” of the country. Not coincidentally, the phrase is the slogan for his nascent presidential campaign, visible on half a dozen campaign signs around the stage at his launch event on Baltimore’s Federal Hill. The 52-year-old plans to emphasize his youthfulness in comparison with Clinton, who is 67 and one of the oldest candidates to ever seek the presidency. Friday’s call is not the first time Clinton’s campaign has communicated with O’Malley. Around St. Patrick’s Day, Clinton’s campaign chair John Podesta held a private meeting with O’Malley and told the former governor that they were going to take any possible campaign seriously. A spokesman for the Clinton campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment. O’Malley is a longshot candidate for the Democratic nomination, especially when compared to the Clinton juggernaut. Despite frequent trips to Iowa and New Hampshire with all the accompanying press coverage, O’Malley is polling at 1% among Democrats nationally compared with Hillary Clinton’s 57%, according to a May 28 Quinnipiac survey. ## Transcript And there are two phrases that I hear again and again and again. New leadership and getting things done . >> Former Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley announced his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination Saturday at Baltimore's Federal Hill Park. For now, O'Malley's up against just two other nominees, compared to the increasingly crowded republican field, but he still has quite the hurdle overcoming Hillary Clinton's huge lead in popularity. Hillary kicked things off by going completely unrecognized At a Chipotle. [ LAUGH ] Not to be outdone, Martin O'Malley kicked things off by going completely unrecognized at a Martin O'Malley campaign event. The president may have been joking, but O'Malley has no where near the name recognition Clinton does. A March Washington Post ABC poll showed O'Malley had the support of just 1 % of the public nationally. But speaking to the Wall Street Journal O'Malley says he has a strategy to beat Clinton, casting himself as a more authentic liberal. Given his history leading the charge over divisive social issues O'Malley may be in the right position to do just that. As Maryland's governor he managed to raise the minimum wage, push through strict gun laws, get rid of the death penalty and back same sex marriage. He's also touted his seven years as Baltimore's mayor and eight years as Maryland's governor As valuable executive experience that Clinton lacks. Listen, I certainly have different experience than Secretary Clinton has, and executive experience matters. Of course the fact that he still plays live music in a Celtic rock band called O'Malley's March probably won't hurt his chance either. 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