Mallory McMorrow 

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After Googling “how to run for office” in the wake of the 2016 election, Mallory McMorrow took on an incumbent Republican State Senator as a first-time candidate and won. In 2023, she became the first woman Senate Majority Whip in state history, and only the second Senator in state history to give birth while in office.

"Hate Won't Win: Find Your Power and Leave This Place Better Than You Found It," McMorrow's first book, is an urgent expansion of her viral speech and details her unlikely journey into politics with a front-row seat to democracy at its breaking point—then outlines the tangible, proven steps that anyone can take to build community, fight for what’s right, and create real, lasting change.

Mallory McMorrow was on the verge of giving up. She knew the work of legislating wouldn’t be easy, but she hadn’t been expecting an insidious culture of sexual harassment, armed protestors storming the state Capitol, or colleagues who had zero interest in reaching across the aisle to get anything meaningful done. Where could one even start? But then fate forced her hand. A Senate colleague called her out as a “groomer”—for standing up for LGBTQ+ kids and fighting against attempts to whitewash history in our schools.

In response, she delivered a blistering rebuke with a speech from the Michigan Senate floor that reverberated throughout the country and the world, leading many long-jaded political pundits to hail her action as a “blueprint” for fighting back. Here, she pulls back the curtain on what it’s like to work in today’s political arena, rife with conspiracy theories and division—yet emerging clear-eyed and offering actionable steps for building community and creating change.

"Hate Won't Win" is a step-by-step guide for anyone who’s fed up with the divisiveness in American politics, and anyone who wants to make a real difference but has no idea where to start—a blueprint for creating the communities and country we want to see.

McMorrow's writing has appeared in Road & Track, Jalopnik, Jezebel, The New York Times, NBC News, CNN, and The New Republic. She lives with her husband, Ray, and daughter, Noa, in Royal Oak, Michigan.

McMorrow remains a vocal proponent of the freedom to read and against efforts to defund local libraries.