Willard Erickson is the Senate Minority Leader. He and Casey Giallo worked with Underwood in attempting to sway Curtis Haas into accepting the entitlement reform. When that didn't work, he assisted Underwood by calling for the detainment of unexcused senators. (Chapter 16) He joined the other members of the Democratic Party Leadership in calling for Underwood to abstain from running in the 2016 election. However, unlike Bob Birch and Terry Womack, he did not vocally object to the America Works project. (Chapter 28) He attended the state dinner honoring Viktor Petrov. (Chapter 29)