Candidates in the race to become the next leader of the Michigan Democratic Party are jockeying for position ahead of next year’s party convention.
Former state Senator Curtis Hertel is among them, boasting a recent endorsement from the state party’s Black Caucus.
Hertel said everyone in the party needs to feel listened to if it’s to recover from steep losses in this year’s November general election.
“We need to be the big tent that we are, which means that everyone feels listened to and that everyone has a seat at the table and is part of the decision making process. So that's what I think building, you know, moving forward, that's how we get buy in from everyone,” Hertel said Monday.
Most recently, Hertel unsuccessfully ran to replace Senator-elect Elissa Slotkin in Michigan’s 7th Congressional District.
When asked what concerns him about the direction of the party, Hertel said he worried things have become too focused on the top of the ticket instead of the down ballot races.
“It’s got to be recruiting great people to run for county commission so that your grassroots is strong. Making sure that we win both the House and the Senate so that it's not just the governor, but someone that can actually get a working people's agenda done,” Hertel said.
That’s something Hertel and his challengers have in common.
MDP Rural Caucus Chair Mark Ludwig is also seeking the party’s top spot. He said the party has been unresponsive while he believes money used for the party’s statewide coordinated campaign efforts should have been spent more wisely this past election cycle.
Ludwig noted the large fundraising haul national efforts brought in and decisions to spend a lot of it on marketing for the top races.
“I just really question whether your 15th showing of a commercial to somebody on legacy media is an effective use of campaign dollars, as opposed to just cramming it down the ballot. You know, I think—If all of our 110 state House candidates had just had ten grand dropped on them, which in a rural area, that's a respectable campaign,” Ludwig said.
Both Ludwig and Hertel said another place the party went wrong was bringing in too many campaign operatives from outside of Michigan who may not have fully understood the state’s political landscape or how to pronounce town names.
The candidates said they’re taking their campaign pitch for party chair across the state.
Ludwig argued what he described as the “activist middle” has felt abandoned and frustrated. He proposed using party leadership positions as one place to help people feel more included.
“We've got to use these officer positions as more than, you know, a holding place for career politicians that are, you know, on their way from here to there. We need to do something with, you know, the first, second, third, fourth, fifth vice chair of the Democratic Party,” Ludwig said.
Another candidate in the race for party chair is Detroit-based social justice advocate Al “BJ” Williams.
On his website, Williams proposed focusing more on local organizing efforts about precinct delegates, building community partnerships, candidate recruitment, and bringing on new donors.
More people could still join the fray ahead of the party’s spring convention next year.
Whoever does win party chair will be tasked with leading Michigan Democrats through several high-profile contests in 2026, including for governor.
