Marianne Williamson Wants to Run the Democratic National Committee: 'We Won't Just Fight, We Will Inspire'

Marianne Williamson is running to lead the Democratic National Committee, joining a growing field of candidates who believe they are best equipped to turn the party's prospects around after losing ground in the 2024 elections.

Williamson, 72, is a New Age self-help author who unsuccessfully sought the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020 and 2024. On Thursday, Dec. 26, the progressive activist announced her campaign for DNC chair in an open letter, promising to "reinvent the party from the inside out."

"In the 2024 election, throughout my campaign I warned of a coming electoral disaster if Democrats did not listen more deeply to the pain of people throughout America," she wrote. "My experience of what went wrong has given me insight into what needs doing to make things right."

She continued: "We won’t just fight; we will inspire. We will create a surge of patriotic fervor, and a connectedness of the American heart to the great historical legacy of this country."

Related: Democrat Marianne Williamson 'Unsuspends' 2024 Presidential Campaign in Surprise Announcement

Williamson made headlines during the 2020 Democratic primaries as an unconventional candidate who argued that the party needed to fight President Donald Trump with "love." She withdrew her candidacy before voting began.

Williamson declared her long-shot candidacy again in the 2024 primary race, ending her campaign following a poor performance in the earliest contests. She then "unsuspended" her campaign three weeks later over concerns about President Joe Biden's leadership, writing in a letter to voters, "My ability to arouse in Americans the angels of our better nature is the most powerful antidote to Trump’s dark and authoritarian vision."

"I will respond to the cult-like personality of Donald Trump with a light-filled vision of hope and possibility," she continued at the time. "We will become once again a 'government of the people, by the people, and for the people' at a time when corporate interests have taken Washington hostage."

With less competition in 2024, Williamson earned a total of 465,863 votes — or 2.8% — though she did not secure any delegates.

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The DNC has been led by Jaime Harrison, the former chair of the South Carolina Democratic Party, since 2021. After Republicans won a White House, Senate and House of Representatives trifecta in the 2024 elections, Harrison announced that he would not seek a second term.

Williamson joins a handful of other candidates vying for the top spot, including DNC Vice Chair Ken Martin, Wisconsin Democratic Party Chair Ben Wikler and former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley.

The DNC leadership elections will take place during the party's winter meeting in National Harbor, Md., on Feb. 1, 2025. All 448 DNC members are eligible to vote on a new chair, and the candidate who earns a simple majority will win.

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