From the wild West (of Massachusetts politics) to executive directing the DNC. (courtesy DNC)

Last week, the Democratic National Committee chose a face well-known to national Democrats—and Dems in Western Massachusetts. The party’s new chairman, Ken Martin, gave the day-to-day job of running the party to Roger Lau. The longtime political hand has worn many hats for Massachusetts Democrats from West to East, including Congressman Richard Neal and Senator Elizabeth Warren.

Not unlike Martin, a former chair of Minnesota’s Democratic party who became national chair thanks to decades of relationships, Lau is not a stark departure from the past. Since Warren’s 2020 campaign ended, Lau has held national roles in the party, including as the DNC’s deputy executive director. Yet, he has also developed relationships across the party’s factions, something that dates to his early work in the 413.

“The DNC is laser-focused on equipping Democrats across the country with the tools they need to win, and I am honored to support Chair Martin in this critical work,” Lau said in a release last week.

Emphasizing the DNC’s role while Democrats are in opposition, he added, “This team will leverage the vast infrastructure that we’ve built within the DNC and our state parties while meeting this moment by deepening our partnerships, strengthening grassroots organizing, and turbocharging messaging to win elections.”

Libby Schneider will succeed Lau as deputy executive director.

Since Donald Trump’s return, the Democratic party came under heavy criticism from its members for not meeting the moment. As Elon Musk fires torpedoes into the ship of state and Trump belligerently sails into allies’ peaceful waters, grassroots Dems have demanded a more robust response from party leaders. Martin himself has faced mockery for some of his early moves as chair.

Then there are the challenges Democratic leaders freely acknowledge. At a chair candidate event in Boston last year, Martin, like his opponents, pledged to spend less money on Washington consultants and more on state parties. There are also both substantive and disingenuous internal debates about its future.  The DNC will only be one, ahem, party to these debates, but here Lau’s resume may be helpful.

Originally from Queens, New York, Lau attended UMass-Amherst and interned for then-Senator John Kerry in his Springfield office. He held roles for multiple Massachusetts Democrats over the years—and presidential campaigns during those seasons. However, the bulk of Lau’s time between college and 2012 was with Kerry.

Kerry on his farewell tour as senator in 2013 in Springfield with Rep. Neal. (WMP&I)

“Roger is one of those gifted organizers at a grass-roots level who understands people,” Kerry told The Boston Globe in 2021.

In 2010, Lau ran Neal’s reelection campaign. Neal prevailed handily. Still, the surging Tea Party required a solid campaign to beat back surging GOP support in the district’s redder areas. Lau briefly worked for Neal’s congressional office, too. He remains a respected figure among alums of the Springfield congressman’s office and campaigns and in moderate circles associated with Neal.

In a statement to WMP&I, Neal said he was “delighted” at the choice.

“A friend of deep intellect, abiding loyalty, and about as skilled a political leader as you’re going to find, Roger is an individual who has never succumbed to the pressure of the moment,” the congressman said. “His approach of taking a step back, a deep breath, and thinking something through has served him well and will continue to serve him well in his new role. He is a rare political talent and a terrific public servant.”

In 2012, Lau became Warren’s political director for her campaign to pry Scott Brown out of the Senate. After she won, he remained with her through Warren’s 2020 bid for president, becoming her campaign manager. Even more than her 2012 bid, the 2020 race appeared to solidify his ties to the party’s left as well. Former supporters of Bernie Sanders from 2016 signed on and still hold Lau in high regard.

“No one better to build and lead a team than Roger Lau,” Warren posted shortly after the party named him executive director.

Warren after a debate last year. Lau was working for the national party in 2024, but he formally a part of Warren’s three previous campaigns. (WMP&I)

While Warren’s campaign ultimately sputtered, within a year Lau was the deputy executive director of the DNC. The relationships from across the party’s spectrum will be critical to navigating the viper pits of national Democratic politics. However, among the more granular tasks will be rebuilding Dems’ standing among its working class base.

Lau made history as the first Asian-American to run a presidential campaign. However, when The Globe profiled him in 2021, it was amid a shifting mood. A year after the pandemic began, there was a discernable uptick in anti-Asian hate. Trump’s response to COVID-19 was partly to blame. Still, many East Asian communities—Lau is of Chinese heritage—have begun to turn away from Democrats.

This shift is particularly stark in the Queens neighborhoods he grew up in, according to a map The New York Times produced that compares the 2020 and 2024 elections. Shifts to Trump can be overstated. A drop in Democratic turnout explains shifts in many states and communities, including in cities like Springfield. Yet, data from other elections showcase the party’s struggles among some communities, including some immigrant quarters of Queens.

Lau may need to draw from both his roots and where he got his political start in Western Mass to help his party out of the wilderness.