(WASHINGTON) — Marianne Williamson, spiritual leader and author who ran two longshot Democratic presidential campaigns in 2020 and 2024, is running for chair of the Democratic National Committee, framing her run as a way to reimagine the Democratic Party as the party regroups and takes stock of its losses during the 2024 election cycle.
In an announcement video posted early Thursday morning, Williamson framed her candidacy for party chair as a chance to rethink the party as a whole.
“I feel that in order for the Democrats to rise like a phoenix on the ashes of our electoral defeat, we need to look at more than just the outer issues, such as data analysis and field organizing and fundraising,” Williamson said. “We need to transform — in a way, we need to reinvent the Democratic Party in order to counter what MAGA is bringing to the table.”
In an accompanying blog post, Williamson stressed Democrats must better understand President-elect Donald Trump’s appeal and strategy to better counter it, adding that she wants to “reinvent the party from the inside out.”
“President Trump has ushered in an age of political theater — a collective adrenaline rush that has enabled him to not only move masses of people into his camp, but also masses of people away from ours. It does not serve us to underestimate the historic nature of what he has achieved,” Williamson wrote. “In fact, it’s important that we recognize the psychological and emotional dimensions of Trump’s appeal. We need to understand it to create the energy to counter it.”
“As Chairwoman, I will work to reinvent the party from the inside out. For if we want a new President in four years, and a new Congress in two, then we must immediately get about the task of creating a new party,” she added later.
Williamson also said that she would have a “a 365-days-of-the-year strategy” to allow Americans to be politically involved yearround and that she wants the party to inspire Americans.
Williamson was unable to generate a groundswell of support in either of her bids for president, although she stayed in the race until the Democratic presidential primaries concluded and she gained some traction with Democrats who wanted to protest the White House on the Israel-Hamas war.
Williamson was also hypercritical of the DNC, in part, for not holding presidential primary debates against President Joe Biden Biden last cycle and has accused it of rigging the process against her.
“We have a very frayed bond of affection with millions of Americans particularly working people in the United States. We have to address the problem on that level. On the level of the heart. On the level of the mind,” Williamson told ABC News Live anchor Kyra Phillips on Thursday afternoon. “People aren’t feeling it about Democrats anymore. At least not enough of them to make for the kind of victory we need in ’26 and ’28.”
Williamson needs to get the support of at least 40 DNC members to qualify for the first DNC candidate forum in early January. The DNC plans on hosting four moderated forums before the election.
She joins a handful of other declared candidates for DNC chair, including Wisconsin Democratic Party chair Ben Wikler and Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party chair Ken Martin and former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley. Jamie Harrison, the current chairman, isn’t running for reelection.
DNC leadership elections will be held at National Harbor outside Washington on Feb. 1.
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