Former Presidential Candidate Marianne Williamson Launches Bid for DNC Chair

The self-help author joins an already crowded field of candidates to lead the DNC after the end of the current chair’s term.

Democratic presidential hopeful Marianne Williamson speaks during a campaign event at Teatotaller's Cafe in Concord, N.H., on Jan. 17, 2024. Joseph Prezioso/AFP via Getty Images

Marianne Williamson, who ran in the 2024 Democratic presidential primary against President Joe Biden, launched a bid on Dec. 26 to chair the Democratic National Committee (DNC) amid a growing field of candidates who are looking to rebrand the party after it lost control of the Senate and White House this year.

Williamson’s candidacy is among others who have indicated their intentions of leading the DNC after current Chair Jaime Harrison’s term expires early next year.

New York state Sen. James Skoufis (D), Minnesota Democratic Party Chair Ken Martin, Wisconsin Democratic Party Chair Ben Wikler, former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, and former Homeland Security official Nate Snyder have expressed interest in the party leadership position.

“This year, the party faces a more critical problem than we have ever faced before. The MAGA phenomenon now challenges the very way that politics are done in America, and the traditional tool kit of party organizing will not be enough to meet the moment,” Williamson wrote in a post on her Substack.

Williamson, who also ran in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary, said, “My experience of what went wrong has given me insight into what needs doing to make things right.”

She suspended her 2020 campaign before Iowa’s Democratic caucus and then suspended her 2024 campaign in February before unsuspending it shortly thereafter.

“MAGA is a distinctly 21st century political movement and it will not be defeated by a 20th century tool kit,” Williamson wrote.

“Data analysis, fundraising, field organizing, and beefed-up technology—while all are important—will not be enough to prepare the way for Democratic victory in 2024 and beyond. That’s why I have decided to run for DNC Chair this year.”

After losing control of the Senate and the presidential race this year, the Democratic Party is trying to chart a new path forward for the 2026 midterms and beyond.

Many of the DNC chair candidates have made promises of rebuilding and rebranding the party so that it can chip away at the Republican’s trifecta—its control of the White House and both chambers of Congress—in the coming years.

The DNC said in November that it would host its chair election at its winter meeting from Jan. 30 to Feb. 1, 2025, at National Harbor, Maryland.

There will be four candidate forums throughout January, including in-person and virtual events at which candidates can engage with grassroots party members nationwide.

“The DNC is committed to running a transparent, equitable, and impartial election for the next generation of leadership to guide the party forward,” Harrison, who is not seeking reelection, wrote in a letter to DNC members.

Williamson suggested she has the right experience to lead the Democratic Party to future victory.

“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,” Williamson wrote.