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O'Malley publicly announced his candidacy in the 2016 presidential election on May 30, 2015, in Baltimore, Maryland, and filed his candidacy form seeking the Democratic Party nomination with the Federal Election Commission on May 29, 2015.
O'Malley is running against Hillary Clinton, among others. During the 2008 Democratic Presidential primaries, O'Malley endorsed then-U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton over then-Senator Barack Obama as his party's presidential nominee. He served as the chair of Clinton's campaign in Maryland. In December 2012, when some in the media were speculating that O'Malley might run for president, he said that Clinton would be a "great president" and brushed off questions about his own potential candidacy. Earlier that year, at the 2012 Democratic National Convention, he received a primetime speaking slot on the second night of the convention. He spoke to delegations from several states, including Iowa, where the first presidential caucuses are held in election years, and Ohio, a key swing state in recent presidential elections. O'Malley's prominence at the convention generated both support for, and criticism of his record. One Maryland delegate to the convention said of O'Malley, "It's the worst-kept secret in Maryland that the governor has national ambitions."
On May 29 of this year, the day that he filed for the nomination, O'Malley released a video of himself strumming the presidential fanfare Hail to the Chief on his guitar, alluding to his impending announcement. The following day, May 30, O'Malley launched his campaign at a scheduled rally at Federal Park Hill in Baltimore.
Following are some of the positions taken by O'Malley on a number of relevant issues:
Minimum Wage: During a speech at Harvard's Institute of Politics, O'Malley said that supported a $15 minimum wage. He said such a move would "fuel economic growth and greater consumer demand." During his final year as Governor of Maryland, O'Malley signed a bill to gradually raise the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour. In 2007 a "living wage" law was passed, requiring government contractors to pay their employees significantly more than the minimum wage. The exact level of wage increase varied from county to county depending on the cost of living.
Financial regulation: O'Malley favors breaking up the nation's biggest financial institutions in order to prevent a repeat of the 2008 financial crisis, in which a number of banks were declared "too big to fail."
Immigration reform: O'Malley has said that he supports allowing minors escaping violence in their home countries to stay in the United States. When he was Governor of Maryland, O'Malley signed a stateside DREAM Act allowing young illegal immigrants to pay in-state college tuition and to get driver's licenses. In May 2011, O'Malley signed a law that would make the children of illegal immigrants eligible for in-state college tuition under certain conditions. The law provides that illegal immigrants can be eligible for in-state tuition if students have attended a high school in Maryland for three years and if they or their parents have paid state income taxes during that time. On November 6, 2012, 58% of state voters passed referendum Question 4 in support of the law signed by O'Malley.
Gun control: O'Malley supports greater gun control. In May 2013 he signed the Firearm Safety Act which bans magazine that hold more than 10 bullets, 45 types of semiautomatic rifles, requires people seeking to buy any gun other than a hunting rifle or shotgun to obtain a license, submit fingerprints to police, undergo a background check and pass classroom and firing-range training in Maryland. In his campaign he is calling for a national assault weapons ban.
Right-to-vote amendment: In August 2015 O'Malledy called for a constitutional amendment to “protect every citizen’s right to vote, once and for all.” He added that “Passing a constitutional amendment that enshrines that right,” he explained, “will give U.S. courts the clarity they need to strike down Republican efforts to suppress the vote.”
Budget Deficits: O'Malley called a special session of the General Assembly in November 2007 to close a projected budget deficit of $1.7 billion for 2008–2009. A tax plan was passed to raise total state tax collections by 14%. In April 2009, O'Malley signed a traffic speed camera enforcement law, a bill which he supported and fought for in order to help raise revenue to try to balance the deficit facing Maryland. Through strong lobbying by O'Malley, the bill was revived after first having been defeated. After a second vote, the measure passed.
Same-sex Marriage: O'Malley voiced his support for a bill to legalize same-sex marriage in Maryland. O'Malley, a Catholic, was urged by the Archbishop of Baltimore Edwin O'Brien not to support the bill in a private letter sent two days before O'Malley voiced his support. O'Malley responded to the Archbishop, writing: "I do not presume, nor would I ever presume as Governor, to question or infringe upon your freedom to define, to preach about, and to administer the sacraments of the Roman Catholic Church. But on the public issue of granting equal civil marital rights to same-sex couples, you and I disagree." The Maryland House of Delegates approved the bill by a 72–67 vote on February 17, and the Maryland Senate approved the bill by a vote of 25–22 on February 23. The bill was amended to take effect on January 1, 2013, allowing for a voter referendum. After signature, referendum petitioners gathered the support required to challenge the law. Referendum Question 6 in support of same-sex marriage was passed by 52.4% of the state's voters on November 6, 2012.
Capital punishment: O'Malley is a long-time opponent of capital punishment. On May 2, 2013, he signed a bill that repealed the death penalty in Maryland for all future offenders. The repeal did not affect the five inmates then on death row in Maryland, but O'Malley commuted the sentences of four of those prisoners to life imprisonment without the possibility for parole.