Rep. Elissa Slotkin announces 2024 Michigan Senate run
Ryan King
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Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) announced her 2024 Michigan Senate campaign Monday to replace retiring Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI).
Slotkin premised her campaign on ushering in a fresh generation of leadership in the Senate. A handful of prominent Michigan Democrats has passed on running for the open seat, rendering her an early frontrunner in the contest.
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“Today, I’m announcing my run to be Michigan’s next U.S. Senator. We need a new generation of leaders that thinks differently, works harder, and never forgets that we are *public servants*,” Slotkin tweeted.
https://twitter.com/ElissaSlotkin/status/1630191500188348420
Slotkin, 46, previously teased that she was mulling a run. A former CIA analyst seen as a rising star in the House, Slotkin has cast herself as a moderate and managed to secure a victory in a somewhat competitive House district, having first ascended to the lower chamber in 2018 during a blue wave year.
In a roughly three-minute campaign video clip, Slotkin recounted her career and underscored the need for fresh thinking in Washington, D.C.
“Look, we all know America is going through something right now. We seem to be living crisis to crisis. But there are certain things that should be really simple,” Slotkin said in the clip. . “We need a new generation of leaders that thinks differently, works harder, and never forgets that we are public servants.”
Last month, Stabenow, 72, announced that she wouldn’t vie for another term in the upper chamber, and would instead “pass the torch in the U.S. Senate.”
Heavy hitters in the Michigan Democratic Party quickly bowed out, including Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D), Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI), State Sen. Mallory McMorrow (D), and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who recently moved to the state.
So far, Slotkin does not have a major Republican challenger, with Rep. John James (R-MI), who previously vied for Michigan Senate, opting to not run. Some Republican names that have been floated include former Peter Meijer (R-MI), and 2022 Republican gubernatorial nominee Tudor Dixon.
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Several Democrats have kept the door open to running for the seat, including former Rep. Brenda Lawrence (D-MI), who was hoping for a “strong African American to run.”
Democrats are poised to stare down a brutal Senate map in the 2024 cycle, and will be forced to defend 23 seats, three of which are held by Democratic-aligned independent senators, while Republicans will only have to defend 11.