Who is Debbie Dingell?

Deborah Ann Dingell, born November 23, 1953, is a Democratic Party politician who has served as the United States Representative for Michigan’s 12th congressional district since 2015. She is the widow of John Dingell, her forerunner in the seat and the longest-serving member of Congress in American history.

She worked at the American Automobile Policy Council as a consultant. She served as a superdelegate to the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, in 2012.

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Dingell is involved in a variety of organisations in Michigan and Washington, D.C., and serves on a number of charitable boards. She founded and served as chair of the National Women’s Health Resource Center and the National Institutes of Health’s Children’s Inn (NIH). She is also a member of the Vital Voices Global Partnership board of directors. She graduated from Georgetown University’s Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service in 1975.

She is descended from one of the Fisher brothers, owners of Fisher Body, which was acquired by General Motors in 1919, and has served as president of the General Motors Foundation as well as executive director of Global Community Relations and Government Relations at GM.

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In 1981, she married Representative John Dingell, who was 27 years her senior; she was his second wife. She grew up as a Republican but switched to the Democratic Party shortly after marrying Dingell. Her spouse died on February 7, 2019, at the age of 92, after a 38-year marriage.

She represents Michigan on the Democratic National Committee and chaired Vice President Al Gore’s campaign in Michigan in 2000. In 2004, she also assisted John Kerry in securing the Michigan Democratic primary and general election votes.

Dingell was elected to the board of governors of Wayne State University in November 2006.

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Dingell and Senator Carl Levin advocated for relocating Michigan’s presidential primary before February 5 in order to increase Michigan’s political influence during the 2008 Democratic primaries. As a result, Michigan nearly lost its delegates’ votes at the Democratic National Convention.

When Carl Levin announced his retirement from the United States Senate at the end of his term in 2015, Dingell expressed interest in running to fill his seat. When former Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm withdrew to compete for the seat, a Politico reporter named Dingell as one of the Democratic front-runners, including Representative Gary Peters. She decided not to run, and Peters was elected.