BURSTA top Michigan state lawmaker announced Tuesday she would pass on a bid to run for Democratic National Committee (DNC) chair, saying in a video posted on social media that she believed some of the ideas she was mulling could be better achieved by not running.
“There are a lot ideas that I have circulating about, tapping into the incredible network of Democrats we have all across this country in elected office at all levels of the ballot to help uplift their voices, get into the cultural conversation and really change the narrative,” Michigan state Senate Majority Whip Mallory McMorrow (D) said in her video.
“And that is something that I think I can do better outside of the position of DNC chair.”
McMorrow has been seen as a rising star within the party. She garnered headlines in 2022 for a speech she made criticizing a GOP colleague of hers, who had accused her in a fundraising email of grooming and sexualizing kindergarteners.
“I am the biggest threat to your hollow, hateful scheme because you can't claim that you are targeting marginalized kids in the name of quote 'parental rights' if another parent is standing up to say no,” she said in the speech, which quickly went viral.
In a nod to her rising stardom, McMorrow spoke on the first day of the Democratic National Convention earlier this summer, in which she hoisted up a copy of Project 2025.
McMorrow’s decision to forgo the DNC chair race leaves a field of candidates who are largely white and male — notable given that Democrats have often touted their diversity within their ranks. Nate Snyder, a former Department of Homeland Security official who is Latino and Jewish, is the only candidate of color in the race.
That largely white and male field of contenders also comes against the backdrop of an election night when Democrats suffered with major key voting blocs like women voters and Latino and Hispanic voters.
McMorrow, in her video, also offered her analysis of the 2024 election results, suggesting Democrats weren’t lacking in resources but that their candidates struggled to reach voters.
“Here is my theory of the case: 2024 showed us that Democrats are not lacking in infrastructure. We showed we can raise more money, knock more doors, send more texts, make more phone calls than Republicans. But the gap is that when we got there, people did not want to hear from us,” she said.
“And this is a much larger conversation about message and culture. Are our candidates authentic? How do we communicate? What we communicate about? Are we really listening to people?”