Hertel, Runestad win chair races as Michigan Republicans reject Trump pick

• Michigan Democrats pick former legislator Curtis Hertel to lead the party in the 2026 election cycle
• Republicans elected state Sen. Jim Runestad as chair over Trump-endorsed candidate Meshawn Maddock
• The parties will compete in major elections next year, including races for US Senate, governor, attorney general and secretary of state

DETROIT — Michigan Democrats and Republicans convened in downtown Detroit on Saturday afternoon to select new leaders, even as both parties grappled with internal divisions.

Democrats selected Curtis Hertel Jr. a former state legislator and congressional candidate, to serve as chair. Republicans chose Jim Runestad, a sitting state senator, even though President Donald Trump had endorsed another candidate.

The stakes are high for both parties at the onset of the 2026 election cycle. There will be open races for US Senate, governor, attorney general and secretary of state — posts all currently held by Democrats.

“We're going to be refocusing … towards every race,” Hertel said,  vowing “organizers on the ground earlier in the year and getting back to a working people's agenda” with the ambition of regaining the trifecta Democrats lost when the GOP reclaimed control of the state House in 2024. 

At the Republican convention, former vice chair Meshawn Maddock had entered the convention as a frontrunner after receiving Trump’s endorsement. But she received just 31% of the vote on the first ballot and lost to Runestad in a runoff after former Ambassador Joe Cella was eliminated.

Runestad won outright in the second round with 63% of the vote and told reporters he won the race by emphasizing unity. 

“I stayed out of the factional fighting,” he said. “I didn’t attack any donors. I didn’t attack any of the previous chairs … my goal is that we are forward looking and not looking backward at anything that may have been done wrong.”

Hertel won the Democratic race after fellow candidate Al Williams failed to reach the signature threshold to be considered for nomination, an MDP spokesperson said. 

Democrats, too, have struggled with internal divisions after losing last year’s presidential race, the state House and other elections.  

“We need to be the party of fair wages,” Hertel said during his acceptance speech, a nod to recent debates over Michigan’s minimum wage and earned sick time laws that divided Democrats in recent days. Afterward Hertel told reporters “I'm not going to say that I wasn't disappointed” Democrats joined with Republicans to significantly reduce tipped wage increases.

Attorney General Dana Nessel faced boos in a 6th Congressional District caucus meeting from Democratic activists frustrated she brought charges against pro-Palestinian protestors at the University of Michigan’s campus. Rima Mohammad, who is vice chair of the caucus, said Democrats have to find ways to bring back those who have recently felt alienated by the party.

“We need to actually engage with them, listen to them, actually care about what they're saying, and build action based on what we're hearing on the ground,” Mohammad said. 

US Rep. Debbie Dingell of Ann Arbor, whose district includes the University of Michigan, told Bridge Democrats she thinks that Democrats have to end the “circular firing squad” and shift their focus. 

“We need to be listening to the message that people were sending us last November,” Dingell said. “We need to be tough. We have to make it clear what we are fighting for.”

Republicans are looking to heal a fractious and ongoing dispute over the direction of the party after a drawn-out fight for control of the party in early 2024. Kristina Karamo, who was ousted as chair and replaced by Pete Hoekstra last year, emailed supporters ahead of the convention asking them to save the party from a “globalist-cult” by electing “constitutionalists.”

GOP delegates told Bridge that multiple caucus meetings, including for the 1st Congressional District, included screaming over intraparty disputes Friday night.

Matt DePerno, the former attorney general candidate who ran for chair in 2023, said the convention looked much like the previous one — though the process of voting and rules had been smoothed out.

Each of the three candidates, he said, were “pulling votes from different factions of the party” despite being similar in views.

“I think the delegate base is still very divided,” he said.

Runestad told Bridge that he would not resign from the state Senate, where Democrats currently have a one-seat advantage. Instead, he plans to continue his day job in Lansing while serving as GOP chair. 

Hertel, a former senator, wasted no time attacking his new counterpart for the decision, saying being a “part-time senator and a part-time chair at the same time” seems “crazy to me” because both jobs can take 60 hours a week.