Failed presidential hopeful Marianne Williamson announced Thursday that she plans to run for chair of the Democratic National Committee.
Williamson, 72, is best known for her unconventional, long-shot presidential campaigns in 2020 and 2024, both of which ended with her dropping out early. Prior to that, she penned a series of self-help books and ran as an independent for a congressional seat in California.
“I feel that I can help transform the party, reinvent the party, because the politics of the past will not be enough to take on the politics of the present and the future,” Williamson said in a YouTube video posted Thursday.
The race for DNC chair was already crowded before Williamson threw her hat in the ring to potentially replace outgoing leader Jaime Harrison. Other candidates include ex-Maryland governor and presidential candidate Martin O’Malley, New York state senator James Skoufis, Minnesota Democratic Party Chair Ken Martin and Wisconsin Democratic Party Chair Ben Wikler.
Williamson claimed that her history of talking to Democratic voters across the country would help her lead the party through another Donald Trump presidency.
“I’ve seen how much pain there is out there,” she said in the video. “I’ve been up close and personal with people who didn’t have health care, who couldn’t survive on just one job, who were so depressed about so many of the conditions in their lives.”
During her presidential campaigns, Williamson was best known for odd statements. In 2019, she said “a creative use of the mind” led to a hurricane turning away from land. At a 2020 debate, she said Trump’s hate would be defeated because “only love can cast that out.”
Shortly after she announced a second candidacy in 2023, several staffers spoke about her tyrannical behavior and “dehumanizing” abuse during the prior campaign. Stories included her throwing a phone at a staffer and pounding so heavily on a car door that she had to visit the hospital. Williamson denied many of the stories.
