# Curtis Hertel Jr. Michigan Democratic operative and former state senator, elected Chair of the Michigan Democratic Party in February 2025. He was the Democratic nominee in the bellwether MI-07 (Lansing-area) House race in 2024, losing to Republican [[Tom Barrett]] 50.3–46.6 in the open seat vacated by [[Elissa Slotkin]]. He is not running in 2026 (see [[MI-07-2026]]). He previously served as legislative director for Governor [[Gretchen Whitmer]]. > [!note] Stub > Minimum-viable page created to resolve inbound wikilinks. Expand with his state-senate tenure and party-chair leadership.