The new Congressional District map in Michigan has resulted in more competitive seats for Democrats. U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin’s district, MI-07, shifted slightly more blue (R+4 to R+2) because it includes more of East Lansing, a city just east of the state capital. It is rated a Toss-up.
Since winning the election in 2018, Slotkin has worked to defend and expand the middle class – but her work is just beginning. She’s running for re-election because she wants to build the next generation of cars and chips here in the U.S.; lower the cost of prescription drugs; fight for the Roe standard to preserve women’s personal freedom, and prevent corporate money from warping the political process.
Slotkin is running against Tom Barrett, a 22-year army veteran, and state senator. Throughout his time in the Michigan legislature, Barrett has been one of Michigan’s leading conservative voices, earning the most conservative voting record of any member of the Senate in 2021.
HER BACKGROUND
U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin is a third-generation Michigander who has spent her career guided by the principles of service and love of country. She received a BA in sociology from Cornell University and an MIA from Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs.
After 9/11, Slotkin was recruited into the Central Intelligence Agency. Fluent in Arabic and Swahili, she served three tours in Iraq as a CIA analyst. During the George W. Bush administration, she worked on the Iraq portfolio for the National Security Council. During Barack Obama’s presidency, she worked for the State Department and the Department of Defense. Slotkin was acting assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs from 2015 to 2017. After leaving the Defense Department in January 2017, Slotkin moved back to her family’s farm in Holly, where she owned and operated Pinpoint Consulting.
The reason she decided to run for Congress for the first time was personal. Her mother, who died of ovarian cancer in 2011, struggled to afford healthcare for years because of a pre-existing condition. The same month that Rep. Slootkin’s mother got her terminal diagnosis, she declared bankruptcy. Protections for people with pre-existing conditions and the exorbitant price of healthcare and prescription drugs got Slotkin in the race, and these remain a huge focus for her.
ON THE ISSUES
Slotkin believes that a threat to our environment is a threat to our security and our way of life. A strong economy and a clean environment are not mutually exclusive, she said. In fact, in Michigan, they are intrinsically linked. She supports efforts to address and mitigate the impacts of climate change and has a 100% rating from the League of Conservation Voters.
Slotkin is a gun owner who supports the Second Amendment. But she believes that we must prohibit terrorists, the mentally ill, and domestic abusers from obtaining guns. In addition, she does not believe ordinary citizens should be able to easily obtain weapons or materiel that allow them to outgun their local police or military.
Slotkin is a strong supporter of women’s reproductive freedom and co-sponsored the Women’s Health Protection Act in the House.
