Howard Dean running for DNC chief

Howard Dean announced Thursday that he will run to be chairman of the Democratic National Committee for a second time.

“The dems need organization and focus on the young. Need a fifty State strategy and tech rehab. I am in for chairman again,” Dean tweeted Thursday afternoon.

{mosads}Dean, a former Vermont governor, served as DNC chair from 2005 to 2009.

In an interview with Bloomberg Politics, Dean said the party needs to be “rebuilt from the ground up.” 

“I don’t believe in going back, but the party’s in big trouble, and I have the best record of any DNC holder I think in history.” 

During the 2006 and 2008 elections cycles, Democrats gained 52 House seats, 14 Senate seats, 7 governorships and the White House in 2008. During his DNC tenure, Dean focused on a 50-state strategy and to build up the party even in more Republican strongholds.

After a few shakeups at the DNC and major losses for Democrats on Election Day, the party is eyeing new leadership.

On Thursday, Sanders endorsed Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) to be the next DNC chair. Ellison was an early endorser of Sanders in the Democratic primary.

Dean said while he loves Ellison, he thinks it would be difficult for him to be party leader and a senator at the same time. 

Former DNC chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz resigned her post over the summer after leaked emails revealed DNC officials appearing to tilt the scales for Clinton in the presidential primary and undercut Sanders’s campaign.

Donna Brazile took over as interim chair, but has also come under fire after leaked emails showed she shared debate questions with the Clinton campaign.

Jessie Hellmann contributed