Howard Dean says he's worried the race to serve as chairman of the Democratic National Committee could lead to intraparty conflict between those who backed 2016 nominee Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham ClintonButtigieg stands in as Pence for Harris's debate practice Senate GOP sees early Supreme Court vote as political booster shot Poll: 51 percent of voters want to abolish the electoral college MORE and supporters of her liberal primary challenger, Bernie Sanders Bernie SandersButtigieg stands in as Pence for Harris's debate practice Bernie Sanders warns of 'nightmare scenario' if Trump refuses election results Harris joins women's voter mobilization event also featuring Pelosi, Gloria Steinem, Jane Fonda MORE.

Dean, a Clinton backer who served as DNC chairman from 2005 to 2009, announced last week that he would be running to reclaim the position. But he's not the only candidate.

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“I do not want this to turn into a war between the Sanders people and the Hillary people, which it could,” Dean said in a Wednesday interview with BuzzFeed News.

Also running for the DNC chair is Rep. Keith Ellison (Minn.), one of the few lawmakers who backed Sanders over Clinton in the Democratic White House primary. Last week, the Vermont senator returned the favor, endorsing Ellison for the top party spot.

Liberal leader Sen. Elizabeth Warren Elizabeth WarrenHarris joins women's voter mobilization event also featuring Pelosi, Gloria Steinem, Jane Fonda Judd Gregg: The Kamala threat — the Californiaization of America GOP set to release controversial Biden report MORE (Mass.), the last female Democrat in the Senate to endorse Clinton, has also thrown her support behind Ellison.

Dean, a former presidential candidate and Vermont governor, said in the interview with Buzzfeed that he thinks he can win "because I'm a known quantity."

"We had a fantastic record when I was there before," he said. "The problem is if I win, the map is going to look like Hillary versus Bernie primary contest, and that's not good."

He said in an earlier interview with Bloomberg News the party needs to be "rebuilt from the ground up."