Bruley to step down as Dems’ chairman
Vice chair Alysa Diebolt to take over
Ed Bruley, the longtime chairman of the Macomb County Democratic Party, has chosen not to run for re-election and will cede the post to his vice chair, Alysa Diebolt.
Bruley, who has held the post since 2002, informed the party Wednesday night at its convention, telling The Macomb Daily on Thursday it is time for a younger person to take over the reins of the county party. Bruley has been involved in politics since the 1970s and served as an aide to former Democratic congressman David Bonior.
“I think we have a very excellent person who will be able to take
over,” Bruley said. “I think it’s a good time to do it, to promote younger people into leadership positions.”
Diebolt, 33, of Eastpointe, will run unopposed and formally take over the post Dec. 2 following a mail-in vote.
“I’m excited about the next two years and inspired by the work we do together,” Diebolt said Thursday.
Support for Bruley may have been waning from some party members who believed he has not been fully responsive to new ideas and has limited his scope of involvement to the Mount Clemens-Clinton Township area in recent years, according to sources. The Warren-Center Line Democratic Party at times has been at odds with the county party under Bruley’s leadership.
Democrat Carl Marlinga said he believes Bruley’s wealth of knowledge and experience may have been mistaken for a lack of enthusiasm by some party members.
“He sometimes is thought of as not being as enthusiastic as he should. I think that’s because Ed has enough experience that he knows what ideas have a reasonable chance of working and what ones you’re just spinning your wheels to make you feel good,” Marlinga said.
Mark Brewer, former chair of the county Dems, defended Bruley, saying he has been inclusive. “Nobody has ever been excluded from the party committee,” he said.
He noted that Jeremy Fisher, chair of the Warren-Center Line Dems, lost to Bruley by a large margin two years ago when he ran against him.
Diebolt praised Bruley for his achievements and knowledge, and for choosing her as his vice chair in 2017 when Kathy Tocco left to run for judge.
“I think everybody has faults, but I think it’s amazing Ed looked at a 28-yearold woman for a new vice chair,” she said. “He can be a little rough around the edges, but there’s no one I respect more in politics than Ed Bruley.”
Marlinga spoke positively of Bruley at Wednesday’s convention held over Zoom video and attended by over 100 people.
If Bruley had decided to run again and faced opposition, Marlinga said in an interview he would have won a close race.
“Some people thought he should not be the chair and there would be a fight” if he ran, Marlinga said. “I suspect that if Ed wanted to, he could have pulled it off and won the race one more time.”
Brewer said Bruley would have won re-election.
Diebolt said she would not have run against Bruley if he decided to run.
Marlinga, who earlier this month lost in a close race to Republican John James for 10th District congressional seat, does not lay any blame for his defeat on the Macomb Dems. Instead, he places fault with the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and its chair, Sean Patrick Maloney, for not contributing a penny to his campaign. Marlinga believes a relatively small amount, $300,000 to $500,000, from the DCCC would have put him over the top. The DCCC contributed $9 million to other congressional Democratic candidates in Michigan.
In fact, Marlinga said he was very pleased with the county party’s efforts. The organization produced and distributed literature and created digital ads on his behalf, along with volunteers going door to door. Bruley said the county party “spent all we had” on the race from its federal Political Action Committee but wouldn’t reveal the amount.
“We were supportive of him in the appropriate way,” Bruley said. “We try to rally around people on the local level and made sure the local folks were in unison in supporting Carl.”
Of James’ victory, Diebolt said, “I look forward to two years of holding John James accountable,” noting that in 2024 there will be elections from the top of the ballot to the bottom, including townships.
Diebolt said she will address some past concerns of the county party by attracting and trying to attract a more diverse group of party members from a wider geographic area. Of her slate of 117 party members, 53.8% are female and 21.8% are “people of color,” she said. And 36.8% reside north of Hall Road, a majority Republican area.
“I have a combination of wisdom and experience from people who have been involved longer than me, and young people or people who are new to politics,” she said.
She plans to recruit Dems to seek non-elected offices, such as municipal planning commissions and zoning boards, to get a start in community involvement and politics, she said.
Diebolt is a glass-fusion artist, designer of websites and graphics, and fundraiser for FernCare Free Clinic, a nonprofit in Ferndale.
She moved from the Upper Peninsula 11 years ago after meeting her husband, Cardi DeMonaco Jr., at a student-government conference at Lake Superior State University when she attended Northern Michigan University and he was a student at the University of Michigan-Dearborn. DeMonaco has been an Eastpointe city councilman since 2014. Diebolt has a bachelor’s degree in marketing.
Bruley called Diebolt “terrific,” “smart” and “very capable.”
Bruley, a Mount Clemens resident, plans to maintain a role in the party as a member of the executive committee and will provide advice and input.
He will remain involved in his other community activities, he said. He is chairman of the Macomb County Art Institute Authority and secretary of the Macomb Culture and Economic Partnership.
The officers on the county Dems’ 15-member executive board will be Aaron Squeo of Clinton Township, vice chair, political director of the United Food & Commercial Workers Local No. 876; Michelle Wilson Merriweather of Chesterfield Township, secretary, who works workforce development in Oakland and Livingston counties; and Maria Mijac of Sterling Heights, treasurer, who trains teachers at the University of Michigan.