Marianne Williamson, the self-help author who has staged two long-shot Democratic campaigns for president, announced on Thursday that she was joining the race for chair of the Democratic National Committee.
Ms. Williamson, a onetime spiritual adviser to Oprah Winfrey, said in an open letter to the committee membership that the Democratic Party needed to understand the “emotional” force of President-elect Donald J. Trump’s appeal and “create the energy to counter it.”
Ms. Williamson, 72, most likely faces long odds in her bid for party chair. A number of party officials, including the former Maryland governor Martin O’Malley, are jostling for the job. The current chair, Jaime Harrison, is not seeking re-election. Ms. Williamson is the first woman to formally enter the race.
In an interview, she blamed an “insider-club mentality” for the Democratic Party’s disappointing performance in November, when Republicans won control of the White House and Congress.
She said she would offer an antidote to the party’s “institutional resistance to anyone but their pre-prescribed list of insiders.” If elected, she would begin a national listening tour to hear about voters’ economic challenges, she said.
“The Democratic Party needs to get off its high, elite perch and actually talk to the people of the United States,” she added.
Ms. Williamson, a progressive who has endorsed reparations for slavery and called for a U.S. Department of Peace, achieved some viral debate moments in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary, but dropped out of that race before the New Hampshire primary. (During that race, she described vaccine mandates as “Orwellian,” but then backtracked after facing criticism, issuing statements saying that she was “pro-vaccine.”)
In February, she suspended her second presidential run after finishing in a remote third place behind President Biden in Nevada’s Democratic primary election. In Nevada, she finished behind “none of these candidates.” She later threatened to try to challenge Vice President Kamala Harris’s nomination at the party’s convention after Mr. Biden left the race.
The Democratic Party’s 448 committee members are expected to vote for the next chair on Feb. 1.
Other candidates include Nate Snyder, who worked in the Department of Homeland Security under Mr. Biden and President Barack Obama; Ken Martin, the leader of Minnesota’s Democratic Party; Ben Wikler, the chair of Wisconsin’s Democratic Party; and State Senator James Skoufis of New York.
Mr. Skoufis immediately dismissed Ms. Williamson’s candidacy.
“We aren’t going to rebuild our party through new-age spiritual intervention,” Mr. Skoufis said in a statement. “We are going to rebuild our party with leaders who know how to win elections.”
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