LANSING, Mich. — Democrat William Lawrence, who's running for one of Michigan's battleground seats in the U.S. House, labeled three prominent members of his party "warmongers" while speaking on a podcast days before the November 2024 election.

Lawrence, a political organizer from Lansing, made the comment on a show he hosted called "Hegemonicon." He was explaining his decision to vote in favor of Democrat Kamala Harris for president.

"I voted early by mail here in the critical swing state of Michigan," Lawrence said. "I voted for Kamala Harris for president, Elissa Slotkin for Senate and Curtis Hertel for U.S. representative. Warmongers, every single one of them.

"This was, without a doubt, the hardest vote I ever cast.”

At the time, Slotkin, a Democrat from Holly, held the 7th District House seat that Lawrence is now running for in the Lansing area. She's currently a member of the U.S. Senate. In 2024, Hertel, a Democrat from East Lansing, was running to replace Slotkin in the 7th District. Hertel lost the general election but became the chairman of the Michigan Democratic Party, a position he still holds.

On the podcast, Lawrence criticized top Democrats' stances on conflict in the Middle East, efforts to provide arms to Israel and the Israeli military's strikes on Gaza.

Lawrence is currently in a competitive primary race for the Democratic nomination in the 7th with former Navy SEAL Matt Maasdam and former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink. The winner will challenge U.S. Rep. Tom Barrett, R-Charlotte, who defeated Hertel in 2024.

In a statement Wednesday, Lawrence said he voted for the Democratic ticket and knocked doors for Democratic candidates.

"Like many voters in 2024, I was angry and frustrated with the leadership of both parties for supporting the genocide in Gaza. My statement reflects that anger," Lawrence said. "As your Congressman, I will be a voice to stop arming Israel and other human rights abusers, while investing our taxpayer dollars in good housing and healthcare for Mid-Michigan."

A spokeswoman for Slotkin and a spokesman for Hertel didn't immediately provide comments on Lawrence's past remarks.

On the Oct. 29, 2024, podcast episode, Lawrence encouraged people to vote for Harris over Republican Donald Trump. The episode was titled, "What We’ve Learned. Where We Go Next." Lawrence said Trump would lead the country to the fourth or fifth circle of hell.

“Vote for the second or third circle of hell. That’s what I did," Lawrence said of Harris, who was vice president at the time.

At another point, Lawrence said voting for Harris "really made me sick."

“As despicable as I find Harris and as cowardly as her campaign has been, I fear a Trump 2 presidency even more," Lawrence said. "So I voted for her.”

William Lawrence also slammed fellow Democrats in since-deleted tweets

The podcast wasn't the first time Lawrence criticized Slotkin and other prominent Democrats.

In a series of since-deleted posts on X, Lawrence, writing under the handle @wlawren90, criticized Slotkin for her policy stances. The posts were recovered through the Wayback Machine internet archive.

In response to a November 2019 post from Slotkin, in which the then-congresswoman said she was proud to advocate for F-35s at Selfridge Air National Guard Base, Lawrence called Slotkin a “war hawk."

“Michigan needs jobs fixing our water infrastructure, building out renewable energy, and expanding mass transit through a Green New Deal,” Lawrence wrote. “But Slotkin opposes the GND, and backs this nonsense instead.”

In 2020, Lawrence said he was “ashamed to be represented” by Slotkin, “who can’t bring herself to say one critical word about Trump’s reckless escalation of armed conflict.” That was in response to a statement Slotkin made on the death of Qassem Soleimani, the longtime Iranian military general who was assassinated by the U.S. in a January 2020 drone strike ordered by Trump.

In January 2025, after the U.S. Senate, with the help of “yes” votes from Slotkin and U.S. Sen. Gary Peters, voted to move to a final vote on immigration legislation, the Laken Riley Act, Lawrence called them “gutless.”

“My gutless senators voted to strip due process from millions of undocumented people, who are workers, parents, and students just like any of us,” Lawrence wrote. “I hope for your sake that you are touched by guilt. At least it would mean you have a conscience left.”

In February 2025, after Gov. Gretchen Whitmer praised GOP House Speaker Matt Hall for his work on a roads deal, Lawrence accused the governor of sabotaging Democratic control of the state House and state Senate in 2023 and 2024.

"This is a load of crock," Lawrence wrote. "Whitmer did her part to sabotage last year's Democratic trifecta with low expectations and lack of leadership in the Capitol.

"It was clear towards the end of last year that she was excited to return to a divided legislature and bipartisan deal-making."

He also posted about marching on Lansing Mayor Andy Schor's home over "inaction on police abuses" in June 2020 and about efforts to occupy U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell's office in a push for the Green New Deal in November 2019.

In August 2022, Lawrence posted, "My ideology can be summed up as 'social democrat in the streets, libertarian socialist in the sheets.'"

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