Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., announced Monday that she will seek the Senate seat being left by Debbie Stabenow, a fellow Democrat who is not seeking re-election in 2024.
In a video announcing her campaign, Slotkin highlights her service in the CIA and on multiple tours in Iraq alongside U.S. troops, as well as a bipartisan track record in the national security space under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama. Still, “nothing is more important to me than” Michigan, Slotkin says.
“We need a new generation of leaders that thinks differently, works harder and never forgets that we are public servants,” Slotkin said in the video.
Slotkin joins several of her House counterparts in trying to run for the Senate in the upcoming 2024 cycle across various competitive races. Her announcement, expected for weeks, comes after several prominent Michigan Democrats took themselves out of the running.
In recent days, Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist and state Sen. Mallory McMorrow, who had developed a national donor base after going viral last year for her defense of LGBTQ rights, announced they would not run. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Rep. Haley Stevens and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who moved to the state after growing up and holding office in Indiana, had all previously said they had no plans to seek the seat.
Other potential candidates, such as Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, have indicated they prefer to stay in their current jobs.
The Republican side remains a bit unsettled. Rep. John James — who is twice a losing Senate candidate in Michigan but seen as a viable contender for Stabenow’s seat this time — has instead made plans to run for re-election to the House. GOP possibilities include Tudor Dixon, the party’s losing candidate for governor in 2022, Reps. Bill Huizenga and Lisa McClain, and former Reps. Peter Meijer, Mike Rogers and Fred Upton.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
