Debbie Dingell

Life and career

Descended from Howard Fisher of the Fisher Brothers, owners of Fisher Body, from 1919 a part of General Motors, she has served as president of the General Motors Foundation and as executive director of Global Community Relations and Government Relations at GM.

She married Representative John Dingell in 1981. She had grown up as a Republican, but became a Democrat soon after marrying Dingell. Their marriage lasted 38 years until her husband's death on February 7, 2019, at the age of 92. Like her husband, she is a Catholic.

She is a member of the Democratic National Committee from Michigan and chaired Vice President Al Gore's campaign in Michigan in 2000. In 2004, she also helped secure the Michigan Democratic primary and general election vote for John Kerry in Michigan.

In November 2006, Dingell was elected to Wayne State University's board of governors.

Dingell and Senator Carl Levin were proponents of moving up Michigan's presidential primary before February 5 in an attempt to garner greater political influence for Michigan during the 2008 Democratic primaries. This resulted in Michigan almost losing its delegates' votes in the Democratic National Convention.

When Carl Levin announced his retirement from the U.S. Senate at the end of his term in 2015, Dingell indicated that she was interested in running for his seat. When former Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm declined to run for the seat, a Politico writer declared Dingell to be one of the front-runners for the Democratic nomination, alongside Representative Gary Peters. She chose not to run, and Peters won the seat.

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

2014

Dingell indicated that she planned to run for her husband's congressional seat after he announced his retirement. On August 5, she won the Democratic primary, winning 77.7% of the vote against Raymond Mullins. On November 4, she won the general election, defeating Republican Terry Bowman with 65.0% of the vote.

When Dingell was sworn in, she became the first U.S. non-widowed woman in Congress to succeed her husband. His father, John Dingell Sr., held Michigan's 12th district for 22 years before his son won it. Altogether, the Dingells had represented this district, numbered as the 15th from 1933 to 1965, the 16th from 1965 to 2003, the 15th again from 2003 to 2013, and the 12th from 2013 to 2023, since 1932.

2016

Dingell did not face a primary challenger in 2016. She was reelected with 64.3% of the vote, defeating Republican Jeff Jones and four third-party candidates.

2018

Dingell did not face a primary challenger in 2018. She was reelected with 68.1% of the vote in a rematch against Republican Jeff Jones and two third-party candidates.

2020

Dingell was challenged in the Democratic primary by medical student and activist Solomon Rajput. She won renomination with 80.9% of the vote. In the general election, she was reelected with 68.1% of the vote in another rematch against Republican Jeff Jones and Working Class Party candidate Gary Walkowicz.

2022

The 12th congressional district shifted significantly in the 2020 United States redistricting cycle following the 2020 census: while it kept Dearborn, it lost Ann Arbor while gaining parts of Detroit. While prior to redistricting, Dingell lived in Dearborn, she chose to move to Ann Arbor and run in the new 6th district, which was drawn to contain Washtenaw County and Detroit suburbs in western Wayne County. This allowed Rashida Tlaib, who represented the old 13th district, to run in the new 12th district.

Dingell faced no opposition in the Democratic primary. In the general election, she defeated Republican Whittney Williams with 65.9% of the vote.

2024

Dingell did not face a primary challenger in 2024. She was reelected with 62.0% of the vote, defeating Republican Heather Smiley and two third-party candidates.

Tenure

In 2018, Dingell introduced a law that would give the Consumer Product Safety Commission the authority to recall defective firearms. John Dingell was a key lawmaker who initially granted the firearms industry this exemption from the 1972 Consumer Product Safety Act that created the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

In July 2019, Dingell voted against a House resolution introduced by Representative Brad Schneider opposing efforts to boycott the State of Israel and the Global Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions Movement. The resolution passed 398–17.

In April 2021, Dingell introduced the Recovering America's Wildlife Act of 2021, a bill that would provide funding for conserving and protecting endangered and threatened species, strategies to do so, and wildlife-related recreational activities. The bill passed the House by 230–190 on June 14, 2022.

In 2023, Dingell was among 56 Democrats to vote in favor of H.Con.Res. 21, which directed President Joe Biden to remove U.S. troops from Syria within 180 days.

Trump impeachment

After Dingell voted to impeach President Donald Trump, Trump attacked Dingell during a campaign rally in Battle Creek, musing that her late husband might be in hell, saying of him, "Maybe he's looking up, I don't know, I don't know, maybe, maybe. But let's assume he's looking down." She was attending a bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus gathering when she was told of Trump's remarks. Numerous members of both parties came to Dingell's defense. In her response to the incident, Dingell called for a return to civility, saying, "some things should be off limits." In her 2022 book Confidence Man, New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman wrote that Dingell received a call from a man claiming to be a reporter who asked whether she was "looking for an apology from Trump". According to Haberman, "Dingell couldn't shake the idea that his voice sounded like that of the forty-fifth president."

On June 24, 2025, Dingell was one of 128 House Democrats who voted against an impeachment resolution against President Trump over the June 21 U.S attack on Iran's nuclear sites.

Committee assignments

Source:

• Committee on Energy and Commerce
  • Subcommittee on Health
  • Subcommittee on Communications & Technology
  • Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade
• Committee on Natural Resources
  • Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife, and Fisheries
  • Subcommittee on Energy & Mineral Resources

Caucus memberships

• Black Maternal Health Caucus{{cite web|title=Caucus Members
• Congressional Equality Caucus
• Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus
• Congressional Progressive Caucus
• Congressional Arts Caucus
• Congressional Caucus on Macedonia and Macedonian-Americans
• Congressional Solar Caucus
• Congressional Ukraine Caucus
• Congressional Wildlife Refuge Caucus
• Medicare for All Caucus
• Blue Collar Caucus
• Problem Solvers Caucus
• Rare Disease Caucus
• United States–China Working Group

References

References

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2. "Board of Directors". Vital Voices.
3. Beene, Ryan. (October 26, 2009). "Debbie Dingell to take new post at American Automotive Policy Council". [[Crain Communications]].
4. Akers, Mary Ann. (February 27, 2008). "Debbie Dingell: Angst-ridden Superdelegate and Congressional Spouse". [[The Washington Post]].
5. "Congressman John Dingell Makes Washington Quake, but Not His Executive Wife, Debbie".
6. "TeddyDavis.org - Dingell's Powerful Wife".
7. McDiarmid, Hugh. (January 10, 1998). "Gore has support, despite the rumors". [[Detroit Free Press]].
8. "A closer look at Debbie Dingell". Pennsylvania Main Line News covering local news including local sports, video and multimedia coverage, and classified advertising..
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12. (March 19, 2008). "New Hampshire Cheated, Too". [[The New York Times]].
13. Shear, Michael D.. (December 2, 2007). "DNC Punishes Michigan For Early Primary Date". [[The Washington Post]].
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15. Hohmann, James. (March 22, 2013). "Jennifer Granholm: No run for Carl Levin's seat". [[Politico]].
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21. Catalina Camia, USA TODAY. (November 2, 2014). "Women poised to break glass ceiling on Election Day". Usatoday.com.
22. (October 17, 2016). "2016 Michigan Election Results - State Primary". [[Michigan Secretary of State]].
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32. (November 28, 2022). "2022 Michigan Election Results - General". [[Michigan Secretary of State]].
33. (August 26, 2024). "2024 Michigan Election Results - State Primary". [[Michigan Secretary of State]].
34. (November 22, 2024). "2024 Michigan Election Results - General". [[Michigan Secretary of State]].
35. "Defective firearm bill pits Dingell v. Dingell". The Detroit News.
36. Foran, Clare. (July 24, 2019). "Who voted 'no' on the House resolution opposing Israel boycott movement". CNN.
37. Schneider, Bradley Scott. (2019-07-23). "H.Res.246 - 116th Congress (2019-2020): Opposing efforts to delegitimize the State of Israel and the Global Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions Movement targeting Israel.". United States Congress.
38. Dingell, Debbie. (2022-06-14). "H.R.2773 - 117th Congress (2021-2022): Recovering America's Wildlife Act of 2021". United States Congress.
39. (2022-06-15). "House passes Recovering America's Wildlife Act: Bill heads to Senate".
40. (March 8, 2023). "H.Con.Res. 21: Directing the President, pursuant to section 5(c) of … -- House Vote #136".
41. (March 8, 2023). "House Votes Down Bill Directing Removal of Troops From Syria".
42. Bender, Michael C.. (December 19, 2019). "Trump Rallies His Base as House Votes to Impeach". [[The Wall Street Journal]].
43. (December 19, 2019). "Rep. Debbie Dingell thanks colleagues for support after Trump suggests John Dingell is in hell". [[The Washington Post]].
44. Cummings, William. (December 19, 2019). "'Some things should be off-limits': Dingell calls for civility after Trump's attack on late husband". USA Today.
45. "Trump weighed bombing drug labs in Mexico after he mistook adviser, new book shows". [[The Washington Post]].
46. "128 Democrats Helped Republicans Kill a Resolution to Impeach Trump".
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48. (April 4, 2025). "About the CEC". CEC.
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51. "Membership". Congressional Arts Caucus.
52. (March 14, 2019). "Macedonia Caucus Co-Chairs on NATO Accession Agreement".
53. (May 25, 2023). "Congressmen Raja Krishnamoorthi And Ralph Norman Relaunch The Bipartisan Congressional Solar Caucus For The 118th Congress". United States Congressmen Raja Krishnamoorthi.
54. (June 13, 2022). "Members". Congressional Ukraine Caucus.
55. "Strengthening Conservation Advocacy: Congressional Wildlife Refuge Caucus Expansion & Reconstitution". National Wildlife Refuge Association.
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57. "Rare Disease Congressional Caucus". Every Life Foundation for Rare Diseases.
58. "Our Mission". U.S.-China Working Group.