Old Posts Come Back to Haunt Democrat in Crucial Michigan Swing District
William Lawrence is the Democratic nominee for Michigan's 7th Congressional District. He faces Republican Rep. Tom Barrett in November. Lawrence won the August primary with roughly 44% of the vote. He defeated former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink and former Navy SEAL Matt Maasdam. That was the plan for a standard campaign. Then hundreds of old posts appeared.
Lawrence deleted hundreds of social media posts. Many were written under an older Twitter handle. The posts included calls for abolishing the Senate. They also included calls for eliminating police and prisons. CNN was the first to report the deleted posts. Lawrence has since claimed he disagreed with some of the old posts.
EXCLUSIVE
Michigan Congressional candidate William Lawrence says kids should get s*x change surgeries
A concerned citizen asked him if he thinks kids should be able to get s*x changes. His response?
“I believe that each family should have the freedom to pursue the course of… pic.twitter.com/lfjMxYCKZw
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) August 26, 2026
The deleted content showed a sharp break from mainstream views. In a 2021 message, Lawrence praised the "defund the police" movement. He said it brought America "nearer to a world without police and prisons." He argued that fossil-fuel production should end through "forced nationalization." He also called for President Joe Biden to end the coal industry by executive action.
Lawrence wrote that America should "Abolish the Senate." He targeted the family structure as well. In 2021, Lawrence wrote that isolation and the nuclear family domicile should be rejected. He praised communal living. In 2022, he described the nuclear-family home as an "isolating, individualistic, violent way of organizing society." He argued that the "hetero-patriarchal nuclear family" was a foundation of wealth. He praised "queer" families for creating conditions for "solidarity and wealth sharing."
His views extended to borders and the economy. Lawrence envisioned "a world of free and open migration."
Lawrence co-founded the Sunrise Movement. His past actions match his words. In 2013, he was arrested for resisting police officers. This happened while he protested the Enbridge Line 5 pipeline. He and others chained themselves to machinery. His conviction was later expunged.
Voters in MI-07 are wondering where Tom Barrett is.
He doesn’t host real town halls or show up around the district. He avoids and ignores his constituents.
My day 1 priority is top-notch constituent services in the district. I want to represent Mid-Michiganders in Congress, not… pic.twitter.com/wifhL7349L
— William Lawrence (@WeWill2026) September 2, 2026
He also wrote a song in 2021. It was inspired by former Democrat Sen. Joe Manchin's resistance to the climate agenda. The Daily Caller noted the song was titled "Our generation says f*ck you for everything." The song included the lyric "Hurry up and die so that we can get started." In 2020, Lawrence said he was "ashamed to be represented" by then-Democrat Michigan Rep. Elissa Slotkin. He described Slotkin as a "supposed Democrat." Lawrence is a former member of the Democratic Socialists of America.
Lawrence faces a competitive race against Tom Barrett. The deleted posts reveal a man who wants to dismantle the Senate, police, and the family. He wants a "world of free and open migration." He wants to end fossil-fuel production. The question is whether he can win with those views.