Lansing — The Democratic nominee for Michigan’s swing 7th Congressional District said Wednesday that he allowed his Democratic Socialists of America membership to lapse just last month.
Will Lawrence, who won his three-way primary race by 15 percentage points Tuesday, told CNN’s Manu Raju that he stopped paying his DSA dues to focus on district-specific challenges that “are bringing people together.” He denied the general election had anything to do with that decision.
“I’ve got a lot of respect for DSA and the work that they’re doing around the country,” Lawrence told CNN. “But I felt the need to make it very clear that the platform we’re running on here is the one that has come up based on the conversations we’re having across the 7th District.”
The Lansing Democrat’s response was criticized by the campaign of U.S. Rep. Tom Barrett, a first-term Charlotte Republican whose seat Lawrence is attempting to flip.
Jason Cabel Roe, a spokesman for Barrett’s campaign, said the interview showed Lawrence to be “a complete phony.”
“After running as a DSA-backed socialist, he now says he’s let his membership lapse as if that erases years of radical left-wing activism,” Roe said. “His ideas are reckless and he’s pushing a radical agenda that is out of step with mid-Michigan.”
Lawrence, who has been endorsed by Vermont U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders and progressive U.S. Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed, will run against Barrett in the Lansing-based congressional district after beating two establishment-backed candidates in his primary race.
The purple district, which Democrats hope to flip in November, includes all of Ingham, Clinton, Shiawassee and Livingston counties and parts of Genesee, Eaton and Oakland counties.
On Wednesday, in a statement to The News, Lawrence said he joined the DSA after a Sanders presidential campaign because of its advocacy for Medicare for All — a proposed government-run, single-payer system designed to cover health care for all U.S. residents — but he said he disagreed with some of the platform the group released in July.
“For instance, I do believe we should enforce our borders, and we should not nationalize entire industries,” Lawrence said in the statement. “And unlike Tom Barrett, I’m not moving in lockstep with any party or organization. I’m running to represent mid-Michigan and fight to stop AI data centers, guarantee health care for all and lower costs for Michiganders.”
In an interview Thursday, Lawrence said he also did not agree with DSA’s support of abolishing the Senate, Supreme Court and presidency.
“I disagree that that’s what we need at this time,” Lawrence told The Detroit News. “I do believe that we need serious reform of our democracy because we see that, right now, we don’t have equal representation for all, voting rights are under attack and we also have way too much money in politics.”
Last month, when asked by The News whether he considered himself a democratic socialist, Lawrence said he had “a loose attachment to labels,” but acknowledged he is inspired by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Sanders, “our most prominent democratic socialist.” Sanders campaigned with Lawrence and El-Sayed in Lansing on July 19.
But Lawrence, 35, also argued he could be considered the “law and order” candidate because of his belief in prosecuting associates of the late financier and sexual abuser Jeffrey Epstein and those evading taxes.
Lawrence said he found his stance on data centers to be “fundamentally conservative” because he is concerned with conserving air and water and putting some safeguards against “billionaires from Silicon Valley.”
“I’m happy to be called any of those things and, you know, I think we’re finding lots of unity across the political spectrum,” Lawrence said in the July 13 interview.
DSA and DSA-backed candidates performed well Tuesday across most state primaries where they were present, including in the 13th Congressional District in Wayne County, where state Rep. Donavan McKinney unseated U.S. Rep. Shri Thanedar in the Democratic primary. A democratic socialist also won the mayor’s race in Ann Arbor.
The Democratic Socialists of America officials have said they only endorse members of the DSA.
Lawrence’s primary campaign was defined by scores of volunteers, frequent appearances at public events, opposition to data center developments in the Lansing area and a door-knocking campaign that the campaign said eclipsed 100,000 homes in the mid-Michigan district.
His two primary opponents in the race — former U.S. Navy SEAL Matt Maasdam and former Ambassador Bridget Brink — were both establishment-backed candidates, with Brink earning endorsements from several local Lansing area officials and Maasdam nabbing Democratic U.S. Sen. Elissa Slotkin’s endorsement.
The Holly Democrat formerly represented the district while still a congresswoman. On Wednesday, Lawrence told CNN he had not yet spoken to Slotkin, whom he previously had called a “warmonger.”
The 7th District is considered a key seat that Democrats are hoping to flip to secure a majority in the U.S. House. Barrett, 45, won the seat in 2024 against former state Sen. Curtis Hertel, D-East Lansing, with a 3.7 percentage point margin of victory.
eleblanc@detroitnews.com
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Michigan congressional candidate sheds democratic socialist credentials
Reporting by Beth LeBlanc, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Beth LeBlanc, The Detroit News | USA TODAY Network
