"Don't Let Anyone Tell You That You Have to Settle" — A Guest Post from Mallory McMorrow, Candidate for U.S. Senate

People are desperate for something real.

Hey folks, it’s Mike. I’m taking a few days off with family to close out the year, but in my place today is someone I admire deeply—my friend, Mallory McMorrow.

She’s running for U.S. Senate in Michigan, and she’s written a brilliant piece about why Democrats don’t have to settle anymore. I really hope you’ll take a moment to read it—it perfectly captures what the party needs to do to win in 2026.

And if you’re fired up after reading, Mallory’s got an end-of-year FEC fundraising deadline tonight. You can chip in any amount at this link to help her keep building momentum and win this race.

Thanks, and see you in the new year.

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Look, I get it.

It’s hard not to feel repulsed by what we see happening across our county - institutions torn down to the studs, norms broken, so-called leadership in the White House more focused on padding their own pockets and promoting themselves than serving Americans. And while there have been moments of clarity and strength, there’s still a nagging feeling that this Democratic party wasn’t built to meet this moment.

Meanwhile, you’re at the grocery store and your bill is somehow $200 for what used to cost $100. Your rent just went up again. And that dream of owning a house? Yeah, that’s starting to feel like it’ll stay a dream forever.

I’m Mallory McMorrow. I’m the Senate Majority Whip here in Michigan. Maybe you saw that speech I gave back in 2022, or the Redzone ad from my Senate campaign. But honestly, I’m not here to talk about any of that today.

I want to talk about why we’re all so tired of this, and why we don’t have to accept it.

“When Was the Last Time They Had to Buy Groceries?”

A few months back, I sat down with a group of union apprentices. These are young people doing everything right—learning trades, working hard, building real skills. And they absolutely laid into me.

“This whole system is corrupt,” one told me. “Politicians are all rich. They’re all 80 years old. When was the last time they had to buy a house? When is the last time they even drove their own car? How could they possibly know what we’re going through?”

And you know what? He’s right. He’s absolutely right.

I graduated college straight into the Great Recession. I had a degree in my hand and no job prospects in front of me. I was crippled by student loan debt, had no health insurance (the ACA didn’t exist yet). I worked retail for minimum wage. I know exactly what it feels like to do everything right and feeling, crushingly, like it doesn’t matter.

Here’s the thing: Democrats don’t have a shortage of good ideas. What we have is a shortage of leaders who actually understand what it’s like to be most Americans today. I’d venture to guess there aren’t many in power who remember what it’s like to check your bank account before getting gas, or who have had to choose between going to the doctor and paying a bill.

That’s why people are cynical. Not because they don’t care about politics—but because they don’t see themselves in the people claiming to represent them.

We Don’t Have to Play Small

In 2018, I decided to run for State Senate in a Republican stronghold district in Oakland County, the suburbs just north of Detroit. And I decided to run against the sitting Republican incumbent who had won his previous election by 16 points…a long shot for even an experienced candidate, let alone a first-time candidate.

Some local Democratic party leaders were... let’s say, not the most encouraging. One told me, “Oh honey, that’s cute.”

Well here’s what we did with no expectations and “cute…”

But here’s the thing about having no expectations: you’re free. Free to build the campaign you believe in.

We organized 500 volunteers—retired teachers, high school kids, working parents. We knocked on doors. We listened.

And on Election Night 2018, we won. By four points.

That’s why I will never accept it when someone tells me something “can’t be done.” We can organize everywhere. We can talk to our neighbors. We can win. Because people are looking for leaders who see them, listen to them, and will actually fight for them.

And we didn’t win by playing it safe or triangulating our message into meaningless mush. We won by showing up everywhere, talking like actual human beings, and listening.

What drove our win in 2018? It wasn’t a single issue. There was no magic buzzword.

On thousands of doorsteps and in countless conversations, I heard the same refrain over and over again: “You remind me a lot of my daughter, who left Michigan. Why are you here? And what can we do so my kids can stay?”

That became the umbrella for everything we focused on: education, civil rights, protecting our water, diversifying our economy, creating more opportunities and investing in communities.

From there, I helped Democrats flip the Michigan Senate for the first time in 40 years. Not by following the same old playbook. Not by deferring to “the way things have always been done.” But by refusing to accept those limitations in the first place.

Voters are hungry for this. They want authenticity. They want leaders who get what they’re going through. They want a Democratic Party that fights as hard as the moment demands.

The Stakes Are Everything

And let’s be clear about what we’re up against. Trump and his MAGA movement aren’t just wrong about policy. They’re actively trying to convince Americans that government is the enemy, that democracy is rigged, that we should just give up on the idea that politics can make our lives better.

The only way to fight that cynicism is by proving them wrong. Not with poll-tested messages or cautiously worded statements. But by delivering real results and talking about them like real people.

We need leaders who know what gas costs in 2025, not 1995. We need leaders who’ve dealt with the nightmare of finding affordable childcare. We need leaders who’ve helped aging parents navigate getting older, who have found themselves sandwiched between taking care of children and parents and wondering how to make it all work. We need leaders who remember what it’s like to worry about money, to feel like the system is rigged against you, to wonder if your kids will ever have it as good as you did.

I’m not saying we should throw out experience. I’m saying we need to combine institutional knowledge with lived experience and fresh energy. We need to stop accepting “this is just how things work” when how things work is clearly failing most Americans.

Desperate for Something Real

My 2022 speech went viral because people were so starved for a Democrat with a backbone that when they finally saw one, it resonated. People are desperate for authenticity in politics. They want leaders who will call out BS when they see it and fight back when it matters, who get angry at things worth being angry about, who aren’t afraid to lead while acknowledging that nothing about this moment is normal, who don’t act like this is business as usual.

Politics doesn’t have to be boring. It can be engaging, even fun, while still being serious about the issues that matter. We can show up everywhere, listen first, and still deliver on the big stuff.

What Are We Going to Do About It?

So here we are. The Democratic Party is at a crossroads.

We can keep accepting that we’re supposed to lose in certain places. Keep nominating the same types of candidates who’ve been losing. Keep communicating in ways that make people’s eyes glaze over. Keep prioritizing process over results, mistaking activity for achievement.

Or we can demand better.

We can insist on leaders who understand normal people because they are normal people. We can expect our party to fight as hard for our values as Republicans fight for theirs. We can refuse to accept that good policy is enough—we also need to be able to explain why it matters in ways that reflect people’s actual lives.

We saw sweeping victories for Democrats across the country this year - from Virginia to New Jersey to New York to Miami to Mississippi to Iowa to Pennsylvania.

What did they have in common? They didn’t just point out what Trump and MAGA Republicans are doing wrong. They stayed relentlessly focused on affordability and offered something better.

The choice is ours. We can settle for the status quo and hope things work out. Or we can build something better.

I know which one I’m choosing.

What about you?

— Mallory