Mallory McMorrow: “They Want To Make You Feel Powerless, But You Are Not Powerless”

Michigan Dems Get Their First 2026 Senate Candidate

Just based on votes taken this year, Michigan has the single worst Democrat in the Senate, Elissa Slotkin. If you go beyond her votes, she’s even worse. Michigan deserves a great senator to make up for that mistake that will likely haunt them for years and years. When Gary Peters, fairly mediocre himself, announced he won’t be running for reelection, I breathed a sign of relief when Mayo Pete and conserve-dem Hillary Scholten announced they’re not going to run for the seat. Unfortunately, two members of Congress just as bad say they may: Haley Stevens and freshman Kristen Rivet. They may not be as bad as Slotkin— although they may— but each would likely end up in this region:

Possible candidates include two proven excellent options: Andy Levin and Abdul El-Sayed plus one that seems pretty good, Attorney General Dana Nessel. But, as of yesterday, there was one official candidate: state Senator Mallory McMorrow. I don’t know a lot about her policy positions yet. I do know she’s as courageous as hell— something Democrats need in office— and feisty. Soon after being elected, she became nationally know for this speech, made after some pathetic GOP hack accused her of wanting to “groom and sexualize kindergartners” years ago:

“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 'parental rights' if another parent is standing up to say no. You say, 'She's a groomer. She supports pedophilia. She wants children to believe that they were responsible for slavery and to feel bad about themselves because they're white.' I am a straight, white, Christian, married, suburban mom who knows that the very notion that learning about slavery or redlining or systemic racism somehow means that children are being taught to feel bad or hate themselves because they are white is absolute nonsense. No child alive today is responsible for slavery. No one in this room is responsible for slavery. But each and every single one of us bears responsibility for writing the next chapter of history... we are not responsible for the past. We also cannot change the past. We can't pretend that it didn't happen, or deny people their very right to exist.”

She was one of the first Democrats to warn about Project 2025 and bring an awareness of its dangers to the public. And now she’s the first candidate in. “Our message,” she told the Detroit News, “is going to be that the status quo― for even our own party― is not working. That standing behind a podium in front of the Capitol in D.C. and saying, 'We're fighting, we're winning,' and then turning around to text people to ask for $5 is, frankly, bullshit. This is time for something new. It is time for a new generation of leadership that is a bit of an outsider, without being a complete outsider.”

She announced last week that, if elected, she would not support Chuck Schumer for leader.

McMorrow said she plans to build her campaign around an approach to economic policy that talks about kitchen table issues and "isn't just holding onto minimum wage jobs."

"It's about supporting our entrepreneurs and our innovators and bringing more people in who are going to create the next version of what Michigan is known for," she said. "We need a real partner in the Senate seat who understands how things work in the states and is going to move us forward in a way that Michigan is no longer taking scraps."

…In her new book, Hate Won't Win: Find Your Power and Leave This Place Better Than You Found It, McMorrow wrote that she was inspired to Google “how to run for office” after Republican Donald Trump’s victory in the 2016 election.

“Be the change to make this country one that continues to value and celebrate diversity, acceptance and equal rights for all,” McMorrow wrote in a social media post after Trump's win in November 2016.

As a first-time candidate, McMorrow won a seat in the state Senate in 2018, defeating incumbent Sen. Marty Knollenberg, a Republican from Troy, 51.9%-48.1%.

…While often labeled a progressive, McMorrow instead calls herself a pragmatist. She favors a public option that would allow individuals to buy into Medicare or other government insurance, over Medicare For All. As chairwoman of the Senate Economic and Community Development Committee, she's pushed for more community investments in things like regional transit and child care to supplement the state's traditional reliance on incentives for big companies for economic development.

She supports a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine but declined to say whether she'd vote for further security aid for Israel without conditions, wanting to first see the legislation.

"I don't know that I would be in office in my first district if I was at the far left end of the party, and I don't think that's what people are looking for right now," McMorrow said.

McMorrow's state 8th Senate District includes Birmingham and Oak Park, which has a large Jewish population.

"This is not about where you fall on the political spectrum," McMorrow added. "This is about your approach. Do you listen to people? Do you show up? Do you connect with voters in a way that they trust― that you treat them not as just a number, but as a true part of the team."

Her legislative achievements include sponsoring a bill, after a shooting on the campus of Michigan State University in February 2023, that created the Extreme Risk Protection Order Act, also known as the state’s red-flag policy.

The standard allows a spouse, family member, a former spouse or a mental health professional to seek a court order temporarily barring someone from owning or purchasing a firearm.

…McMorrow, who likes to remind people that she represents Mitt Romney's hometown of Bloomfield Hills, argues that the traditional GOP is gone, as are its respect for norms and institutions. And that requires a different approach from Democrats, she said.

"This is Donald Trump's party. This is the MAGA party," she said. "And I don't think that it's necessarily an age thing, but it is a new generation that has come up into a new reality that understands that you fight in this reality very differently."