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You are here: Home / Politics / Domestic Politics / Rep. Slotkin announces 2024 U.S. Senate campaign

Rep. Slotkin announces 2024 U.S. Senate campaign

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Here’s the announcement video that dropped about an hour ago:

Looks like an effective opening statement to me; the last line is very Bidenesque! Personally, I like Slotkin’s no-nonsense presentation and style. She got immediately to the point in these remarks when a GOP House colleague tried to make a VA bill a culture war vehicle:

I don’t know much about Michigan politics, but Slotkin seems like a good fit for the state from a distance. Would love to hear some Michigander opinions about her chances, potential opponents, etc. That said, please feel free to discuss whatever.

Open thread.

Reader Interactions

58Comments

  4. 4.

    Butch

    Trying to remember where I read it; I believe one of the perpetual GOP candidates for Senate has decided not to try it again, so there’s that.  I’m in the UP, which tends to be a news desert for Michigan political items.

  6. 6.

    Geminid

    Elise Slotkin is another member of the talented House Class of 2018, and one of 40 who flipped Republican seats that year.

  9. 9.

    Betty Cracker

    Not OT since this is an open thread, but my husband has the week off, and he’s become fixated on our outdoor stairs, which do need repair. But instead of replacing some worn treads and making sure the stringers are sound, he’s thinking about redesigning the stairs to add a landing, etc.

    We live in a stilt house, and there’s only one set of stairs. I’m starting to worry he’ll bite off more than he can chew and we will have to rappel in and out of the house. Not sure how that would work for the dogs! I suppose we could lower and raise them in baskets…

  10. 10.

    anon

    dems lost their minds right before 2020 thinking Peters was going to lose his seat. i hope we don’t get a repeat of that

  13. 13.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Baud: I don’t know if they’ve declared, but SoS Jocelyn Benson is said to be on the point of launching a campaign, and Brenda Lawrence, a former MoC, has said she may run if no other African-American candidates get in the race. I look at this guy’s twitter feed, who seems to be a dedicated amateur who gets into the weeds of local election results, to get a sense of MI politics.

  14. 14.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Butch: that’s good, at least on paper, John James is like a GOP consultant’s fantasy of a candidate, a millennial Black veteran, West Pointer and small (actually not that small, I believe) business owner. I seem to recall he flirted with never-trumpism, especially after 1/6 and all the attempted shenanigans around the vote count in MI, but soon after declared himself “2000%” behind trump. He barely won his current congressional seat, I believe.

  15. 15.

    Betty

    I believe I saw that she has Stabenow ‘s support which would likely discourage other Dems. The AG took herself out of the running. Mallory McMorrow, a state Senator, was being considered by some folks. She got attention for calling out hypocritical Republicans. Ball Park Franks – okay!

  16. 16.

    Betty Cracker

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: Yikes! Working with contractors has been an absolute nightmare for us. It’s hard to even get one to show up out here in the boonies, and when they do, you’re at their mercy.

    @gene108: I don’t think so — you’d need a ton of room for that given the height. We’re a full story up.

  17. 17.

    Geminid

    @Betty Cracker:That’s a lot of work for a week off, once you add in the posts, rails and balusters. Just replacing treads would leave a lot more time for fishing, which is what time off is for

    Edit: Replacing treads might not be wasteful even if a full replacement is planned. If they are screwed on they can be reused.

  20. 20.

    Obvious Russian Troll

    Although I haven’t followed Michigan politics closely for a couple of decades at this point (I don’t even live in the US any more!), I grew up in her district. The incumbent she ousted in 2018 an acquaintance of mine; let’s just say I’m happy she won for a variety of reasons.

    (Although with recent redistricting I’m not sure if my home town is still in her district.)

  22. 22.

    The Other Bob

    I am in Slotkin’s district.  We would be foolish not to elect her to the Senate.  The United States is lucky to have someone with this level of foreign policy experience in the legislature.  She also runs a good campaign and doesn’t shy far from important issues like gun control and reproductive rights.

    I am hoping Benson chooses not to run and instead runs for Governor.

    The tough part will be finding a candidate to hold Slotkin’s House district, which leans slightly R.

  23. 23.

    Sure Lurkalot

    @Betty Cracker: That’s a tough one. I bet you’d love having a nice landing but for the fear of having to rappel out and climb rope stairs if things don’t go as planned.

    We have a habit of booking contractors in winter for projects best not done in winter, like window replacement when the temp is in the teens and the latest, an electrical panel replacement that took 8 hours (of no power e.g. heat) instead of 2 on a 20 degree day. Sometimes there’s no choice when you have to book work far in advance (and you’re happy if anyone shows up).

  24. 24.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @Betty Cracker: There’s a funny moment in The Last of Us when Joel is telling the young girl Ellie, what things were like before the zombie apocalypse.  Things like flying in planes and cell phones etc.  She’s absolutely amazed and asks him what his profession was.  He tells her he was a Contractor.  “And everybody loved and respected us” lol!

  27. 27.

    Geminid

    @Timill: Stuff like that pretty much has to be built in place because of  weight. One can cut the treads, stringers etc. before tearing down the old stairs, if they have a good set of plans. That saves time.

    Quarter inch graph paper is very useful for projects like this, especially for people like me who can “do carpentry” but are not practiced carpenters.

  28. 28.

    Betty Cracker

    Thanks for the responses on the stairs project. I am compiling all the arguments to head off this potential disaster, lol!

    @Ken: Great point. Snakes too!

  29. 29.

    jonas

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: We also had a contractor building us a mudroom off our garage mysteriously disappear about 2/3 of the way through the job a couple of years ago. Left a bunch of his tools and equipment and, poof! Never came back one day. And we still owed him some money. I even checked the local obituaries for several months afterward to see if he had died of a heart attack or something, but nothing. Really weird.

  32. 32.

    What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?

    Bummed Stabenow is retiring. Back when I was in grad school at MSU she had just been elected to the Senate and a group of us grad students lobbied her on behalf of the local chapter of some international development non-profit that was promoting oral rehydration solutions to prevent deaths from diarrhea. We had no money, we had no clout, and she gave us the time to meet in person anyway. I still can’t believe that happened, and I’m not sure she ever actually listed a finger to promote our cause, but she was willing to listen.

  33. 33.

    Geminid

    @gene108: Ramps are tricky too, especially when made of wood. They tend to grow algae in humid climates and just a little algae can make them very slippery.

  34. 34.

    Josie

    I was just reading that Democrats are fighting with each other in Nevada. Does anyone know how this came about and who is likely to come out on top?

  35. 35.

    catclub

    @Betty Cracker: ​
    &nbsp

    ;I suppose we could lower and raise them in baskets…

    Have you seen the highly painful video of baskets of bricks on a pulley falling out of control, then person opposite baskets falling out of control. make sure to put up a camera when you install the dog lift baskets. ;)

  37. 37.

    laura

    @Josie: the DSA/Berniecrats took over the Nevada Democratic Party and it has gone……not well. There was a shenanigans recently that froze out Party Members and there’s backlash to the backstabbing.

  39. 39.

    sab

    @Josie: Folks didn’t appreciate how much Harry Reid was doing to hold things together. DSA just isn’t even close to being a viable mainstream party.

  41. 41.

    Josie

    Thanks to all for the information. Looks like the election of party chairman next month will show who wins this mess.

  42. 42.

    Geminid

    @laura: The showdown will be this Saturday, March 4. That’s when Nevada’s Democratic Central Committee meets to elect party leadership. A “Unity Slate” lead by state Assemblywoman Danielle Munroe-Moreno will try to unseat Chairman Judith Whitmer and her crew. Munroe-Moreno’s Slate has the backing of the Las Vegas Culinary Union local, the state AFL-CIO, the two Democratic Senators and all 3 Democratic Representatives.

    The Las Vegas DSA chapter has already flounce off and denounced further cooperation with the Democratic Party.

  43. 43.

    Josie

    @Geminid: Ah – sooner than I realized. I hope they can right the ship before we get into campaign season. I love the visual of the SD’s flouncing off. Perfect.

  45. 45.

    trnc

    @Betty Cracker: Tell him that if he’s going to do more than replace treads, he needs to have a working alternative BEFORE he tears anything out. I suspect he will come around to the treads-only work.

  48. 48.

    StringOnAStick

    I am a European style democratic socialist by temperament; I want zero to do with the idiots who make up the US DSA, morons who would rather tear down D’s than fight against R’s.  I’m sure the local ones are sincere (if utterly misguided) but I completely believe that Putin funds them directly and indirectly as part of his Democracy in Chaos project.  The idea that incremental progress is a total sellout, maaaannnnn, is so juvenile and destructive to the future both the D’s want and the DSA claims to want.

    I hope the normie D’s take back the NV party.  That state is so completely polarized/Bundy-infested that there is no room for anything other than complete D unity.

  49. 49.

    Baud

    @StringOnAStick:

    I am a European style democratic socialist by temperament; I want zero to do with the idiots who make up the US DSA, morons who would rather tear down D’s than fight against R’s.

     

    Very few of our issues with the left flank are about policy.

  50. 50.

    Geminid

    @WaterGirl: The DSA has some internal tensions over the strategy of working through the Democratic Party. They helped elect four members to the House who ran as Democrats, but there is frustration because “their” Representatives won’t vote the DSA party line. There was an especially heated blowup last spring, when Rep. Jamaal Bowman voted to fund restocking Israel’s Iron Dome system.

    This strategy will likely be a contentious issue at the DSA’s biennial convention later this year. The war in Ukraine has been another divisive issue for that party.

  51. 51.

    dnfree

    I already had a text message from her, noting that I previously donated $19 to her campaign.  Thanks, Balloon-Juice.

  53. 53.

    Ruckus

    @jonas:

    I can think of several scenarios of why he disappeared but most of them have to do with him not actually being a good human.

  54. 54.

    DM59

    Representitive Slotkin (Elissa to us locals) has been a solid candidate in her district from day one.  Every  time she runs, it is with a smart, on point campaign.  In our Red county (Livingston), she polls well and wins.  She is not affraid to say it like it is, always.

  55. 55.

    rikyrah

    @Josie:

    I was just reading that Democrats are fighting with each other in Nevada. Does anyone know how this came about and who is likely to come out on top?

     

    The BernieBros (who aren’t really Democrats) are fighting Harry Reid’s Machine.

     

    Rooting for The Machine.

  56. 56.

    Geminid

    @rikyrah: I’m also rooting for the machine, or in this case the “Unity Slate” led by Assemblywoman Munroe-Moreno. The election is Saturday, and it could be slowed by credentials challenges. The clique running the party threw 40% of the Central Committee’s members off a week ago, for alleged non-attendance. That was done soon after Assemblywoman Munroe-Moreno said she was running for party Chair.

    Nevada journalist/publisher John Ralston is covering this matter at @RalstonReports. His Nevada Independent news site and other local media will have stories too.

  57. 57.

    Jackie

    @Betty: Mallory McMorrow was on MJ this morning and stated she’s NOT running for the senate. Her heart is in keeping the Michigan state congress blue – and bluer.

  58. 58.

    tam1MI

    @The Other Bob: I am in Slotkin’s district.  We would be foolish not to elect her to the Senate.

    I also live in Slotkin’s district and I agree with this 110%.  I was proud to vote for her for the House and will be prouder still to vote for her for the Senate.

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