Ilyse Hogue had strong ties to Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign — she was an outspoken surrogate for the Democratic presidential nominee. | Getty NARAL chief weighs run for DNC chair

Ilyse Hogue, the president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, is considering running for Democratic National Committee chair.

The liberal activist is engaged in discussions about entering the contest, according to multiple Democrats who have spoken with Hogue.


Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, Minnesota Rep. Keith Ellison, and South Carolina Democratic Party chairman Jaime Harrison have already announced they're running. Both Labor Secretary Tom Perez and former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley are also possible contenders.

"In the last week many people within the Democratic Party at both the national and state level have approached Ilyse about running for chair of the party," NARAL spokeswoman Kaylie Hanson Long said in a statement. "She is listening and considering all her options."

Hogue would be the first woman to jump into the field to succeed interim DNC chairwoman Donna Brazile.

"She's definitely at the early stages of exploring this," said a Democratic operative with close ties to Hogue. "I think her view is this is not going to shake out as quickly as people think it's going to shake out. The election is going to take place in February. There's a lot of action in the last two days, but there's a long slog to actually getting a majority of a 447-vote board."

The operative added that so far "there don't seem to be any women" in the hunt for DNC chair.

Hogue had strong ties to Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign — she was an outspoken surrogate for the Democratic presidential nominee.

"My own view view is she has strong relationships in all wings of the party and would be a strong candidate that could upend the race as it stands," said a Midwestern DNC committeeman, who asked not to be identified.