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Elissa Slotkin
American politician (born 1976) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Elissa Blair Slotkin (/ˈslɒtkɪn/ SLOT-kin; born July 10, 1976) is an American politician and former intelligence analyst serving since 2025 as the junior United States senator from Michigan. From 2019 to 2025, she served as the U.S. representative for Michigan's 7th congressional district.[1] A member of the Democratic Party, Slotkin was a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) analyst and Department of Defense official, ending her career in the field as the acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs.
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Slotkin was elected to the Senate in 2024, defeating Republican nominee Mike Rogers in a close race.[2] She became the second female senator from Michigan after Debbie Stabenow. She is expected to become Michigan's senior senator when Gary Peters retires in 2027.[3]
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Early life and education
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Slotkin was born on July 10, 1976, in New York City, the daughter of Judith (née Spitz) Slotkin[4] and Curt Slotkin.[5][6] She spent her early life on a farm in Holly, Michigan. She attended Cranbrook Kingswood School in Bloomfield Hills.[7] Her family farm was part of Hygrade Meat Company,[8] founded by her great-grandfather Samuel Slotkin,[9] who emigrated from Minsk in 1900.[10] Hygrade was the original company behind Ball Park Franks, which is now owned by Tyson Foods.[11] Judith Slotkin divorced her father and came out as gay in 1986, during the peak of the AIDS epidemic. Slotkin and her brother moved in with their mom. Their home was a gathering place for Detroit's covert but vibrant LGBTQ+ community. Her father was a longtime Republican and Ronald Reagan supporter whose worldview she agreed with during her childhood. Slotkin has said that she became a Democrat because of the Reagan administration's indifference to the widespread suffering of those with AIDS, which greatly affected her.[12]
Slotkin attended agricultural school at Cornell University,[13] where in 1998 she earned a Bachelor of Arts in sociology.[14]
Slotkin was a community organizer for Roca, Incorporated in Chelsea, Massachusetts, from 1998 to 2000, and a Swahili language translator for Harbor Area Early Childhood in East Boston, Massachusetts from 1999 to 2000.[15] [better source needed] In 2000-2001 she was a grant writer for Isha L'Isha (co-founded by Gail Dines).[15]
In 2001, Slotkin completed a course in the Arabic language at the American University in Cairo.[15] In 2003, she earned a master of international affairs from Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs.[14]
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Early career
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Slotkin interned at the U.S. Department of State (2002).[15] She worked as a political analyst (2003-2004) and intelligence briefer (2004-2005) for the Central Intelligence Agency. From 2005 to 2006, she was a senior assistant on the staff of the Director of National Intelligence. She was the leader of a CIA assessment team in Iraq from 2006 to 2007, and the National Security Council staff’s director for Iraq policy from 2007 to 2009.[15] From 2009 to 2011, Slotkin was a senior advisor on Iraq policy at the U.S. State Department and in 2011 she joined the staff of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy as an advisor on Middle East policy. In 2012, Slotkin became chief of staff for the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Policy and later that year was appointed Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Policy. She was appointed Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy in 2013 and in 2014 was appointed as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs. From 2015 to 2017, Slotkin was acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs, where she oversaw policy related to Russia, Europe, the Middle East and Africa.[15] She served three tours in Iraq over five years.[15][16]
Slotkin was recruited by the Central Intelligence Agency after graduate school. 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.[11] From 2015 to 2017, Slotkin was acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs,[17] where one of her responsibilities was securing Israel's qualitative military edge.[18]
After leaving the Defense Department in January 2017, Slotkin moved back to her family's farm in Holly,[7] where she owned and operated Pinpoint Consulting.[19] [better source needed]
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U.S. House of Representatives
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Elections
2018
In July 2017, Slotkin announced her candidacy for Michigan's 8th congressional district.[20] She said she was motivated to challenge two-term Republican incumbent Mike Bishop when she saw him smile at a White House celebration after he and House Republicans voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act.[21] On August 7, Slotkin defeated Michigan State University criminal justice professor Christopher Smith in the Democratic primary with 70.7% of the vote.[22][23]
In November 2018, Slotkin defeated Bishop with 50.6% of the vote.[1][24] She is the first Democrat to represent Michigan's 8th district since 2001,[24] when Debbie Stabenow gave up the seat to run for the U. S. Senate.
2020
Slotkin was reelected with 50.9% of the vote, defeating Republican Paul Junge.[25]
At a Jewish Democratic conference in July 2019, Slotkin accused the Republican Party of using opposition to antisemitism as a strategy to bring the Jewish community into their fold. She argued that Republicans were not primarily seeking Jewish votes, because "we are a relatively small community", but rather aiming to "sway" the community's donors. Republican Jewish leadership criticized her remarks.[26][27] In 2019, Slotkin held several town halls about her decision to vote in favor of President Donald Trump's impeachment. The meetings drew hundreds of protesters and received nationwide media coverage.[28]
Slotkin adapted to campaigning during the COVID-19 pandemic by holding campaign events both virtually and socially distanced with contactless door canvassing and by running advertisements on gasoline pumps.[29]
2022
Due to redistricting, Slotkin's district was renumbered as the 7th district. She defeated Republican nominee Tom Barrett with 51.5% of the vote to Barrett's 46.5%.[30] The general election was the most expensive U.S. House race of 2022, with Slotkin raising $9.8 million.[31][32]
Slotkin criticized Barrett's stance on abortion, specifically his statement that he is "100% pro-life, no exceptions".[33] She also criticized his multiple votes against incentives for a new General Motors electric vehicle battery plant in Delta Township.[34] During the campaign, Slotkin signed a seven-month lease on a condominium in Lansing, Michigan. The condo's owner was a donor to Slotkin's campaign, but the campaign said the lease was at fair market rate.[35][36] After the election and before her February 2023 divorce, Slotkin moved back to her family farm in Holly, in Michigan's 9th congressional district.[37][38]
Slotkin attributed her 2022 victory to "losing better" in the district's Republican-leaning areas.[32] She described her district as "pro-life" and said that, while she ran one pro-choice ad, she ran four on the economy.[39]
Tenure
Upon her election in 2018, Slotkin and fellow moderate freshmen women from competitive districts with national security backgrounds Abigail Spanberger, Mikie Sherrill, Elaine Luria, and Chrissy Houlahan, were described as a "mod squad" counterweight to the progressive "Squad".[40][41][42]
In September 2019, Slotkin and six other freshman House Democrats wrote an opinion piece in The Washington Post calling for an impeachment inquiry into President Trump. Its publication led to widespread Democratic support for an impeachment inquiry.[43][44] Slotkin voted to impeach Trump in both his first and second impeachments.[45][46]
Committee assignments
Caucus memberships
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U.S. Senate
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Elections
2024
On February 27, 2023, Slotkin announced her candidacy in the 2024 Michigan U.S. Senate election after Debbie Stabenow announced that she would vacate the seat.[52] She won the Democratic primary on August 6, 2024, with 76% of the vote, and defeated Republican nominee Mike Rogers[53][54] in the general election, outperforming the top of the ticket.[2][55]
Tenure
In 2025, Slotkin was one of 12 Senate Democrats who joined all Republicans to vote for the Laken Riley Act.[56] After Trump's 2025 State of the Union address, she gave the official Democratic response. She called Trump's economic policies reckless, accused him of favoring billionaires at the expense of ordinary Americans, warned of rising costs and increased national debt, and said President Ronald Reagan would be "rolling in his grave" if he saw Trump cozying up to Vladimir Putin.[57]
Slotkin called for waiting for intelligence to assess the effects of the June 2025 bombing of Iran, and on June 28, after receiving the Senate briefing on the attack, gave her rationale in more detail in an interview.[58]
Committee assignments
Source:[59]
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Political positions
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Slotkin has been described as a moderate Democrat.[43][60] According to GovTrack's 2022 scorecard, she was the fifth-most conservative House Democrat.[61] She was ranked among the most bipartisan members of the House.[62][63][61][64]
Abortion
In 2024, Slotkin said she supported federal legislation to codify the abortion rights established in Roe v. Wade.[65][66] She was endorsed by pro-choice organizations Reproductive Freedom for All[67] and Planned Parenthood Action Fund[68] during her 2024 race for U.S. Senate.
Campaign finance policy
In 2022, Slotkin co-sponsored the Ban Corporate PACs Act, which, if enacted, would prevent corporations from operating a political action committee.[69]
Criminal justice
Following the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25, 2020, Slotkin co-sponsored and voted for the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2020.[70][71][72] She voted in favor of the bill again in 2021.[73][74] Slotkin voted for a bill to overturn DC criminal code modernization which was signed into law by Biden.[75]
Slotkin opposes abolishing the death penalty.[76] She has said it should be used in rare cases.[76]
Economic policy
During the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, Slotkin supported the bipartisan CARES Act relief package, which passed in March 2020. In May 2020, she voted for the HEROES Act, a $3 trillion stimulus package.[77] In November 2021, she voted for the Build Back Better Act.[78][79]
In August 2022, Slotkin voted for the Inflation Reduction Act.[80] In May 2025, she was the only Senate Democrat to vote for a bill that would prevent California from banning the sale of gasoline-powered vehicles by 2035. She said she had a "special responsibility" to stand up for over 1 million Michiganders employed by the auto industry.[81]
Foreign policy
Slotkin is one of five Democratic House members who voted against an amendment to prohibit support to and participation in the Saudi-led coalition's military operations against the Houthis in Yemen.[82][83][84] She was the main sponsor of the 2020 Iran War Powers Resolution, which sought to restrict President Donald Trump's ability to commit the U.S. to a war with Iran without a Congressional declaration of war.[85] Slotkin voted against H.Con.Res. 21, which directed President Joe Biden to remove U.S. troops from Syria within 180 days.[86][87]
Israel-Palestine
Slotkin condemned Representative Rashida Tlaib for controversial statements about Palestinians, including using the phrase "from the river to the sea". Slotkin expressed support for the Israeli government's actions in November 2023.[88] In January 2024, she signed a letter criticizing South Africa's genocide case against Israel, calling it "grossly unfounded".[89]
Slotkin voted against the 2023 funding bill to Israel. She criticized the House bill for requiring domestic spending cuts to fund foreign emergency aid—an unprecedented move. She also noted the bill's failure to allocate humanitarian assistance for the "dire" crisis in Gaza, calling it a strategic oversight, and highlighted the exclusion of aid to Ukraine and Taiwan, U.S. partners facing significant security challenges.[90] In April 2024, she voted to send $17 billion in military aid to Israel.[91][92] Slotkin called for a negotiated ceasefire to the Gaza war, urged the Biden administration "to use all our leverage" to force Israel to limit civilian casualties, and decried Israeli politicians trying to block humanitarian aid shipments as "sick" during her 2024 Senate campaign. The New York Times reported that over the course of her political career, Slotkin has received more campaign contributions from the pro-Israel lobbying group AIPAC than her Republican opponent Mike Rogers. Since the outbreak of the war, she has voted for legislation to provide funding for Israel's military, sanction the International Criminal Court over its arrest warrants for Israeli officials, prevent the State Department from citing statistics from the Gaza Health Ministry, and equate anti-Zionism with antisemitism.[93] In March 2025, Slotkin said she won majority-Muslim and majority-Arab American cities in Michigan after having sympathetic conversations with residents, creating more distance from Biden's foreign policy than Kamala Harris did. She added, "The most important thing that I tried to do was keep lines of communication open with people, even when we didn't see eye to eye. But obviously, the pain in the community was so deep that Trump was able to win some of those communities."[94]
In July 2025, Slotkin missed a vote on blocking arms sales to Israel while on a trip to New York to appear on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Earlier in the week, she said blocking offensive weapons "would be a place to look" in an interview with Krystal Ball and Saagar Enjeti of Breaking Points.[95][96][97] In a press release, Slotkin wrote, "Had I made it back for the vote yesterday, I would have voted yes to block offensive weapons to Israel based on my concerns over lack of food and medicine getting to civilians in Gaza." She added that she would consider future offensive weapons bills on a case-by-case basis.[98][99]
Gun policy
In 2022, Slotkin voted for H.R. 1808, the Assault Weapons Ban of 2022.[100][101] She also introduced H.R. 6370, the Safe Guns, Safe Kids Act, which would require secure firearm storage in the presence of children. The bill was introduced after the 2021 Oxford High School shooting[102] and passed by the House as part of the Protecting Our Kids Act.[103]
After the 2023 Michigan State University shooting in her district, Slotkin and Senator Ed Markey introduced the Gun Violence Prevention Research Act.[104][105] The bill would provide $50 million each year for the next five years for research on firearms safety and gun violence prevention by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.[106]
Health care
Slotkin supports the Affordable Care Act. During her 2020 campaign, she said the protection of health care coverage for people with preexisting conditions was the most important issue in her district. She supports allowing Medicare to negotiate with pharmaceutical companies for lower drug prices for those it insures.[107]
Slotkin opposes Medicare for All but supports Pete Buttigieg's so-called "Medicare for All Who Want It" plan. She has criticized Medicare for All, saying that "no one can explain" how to fund it. Instead, she says she is a "big believer" in a Medicare buy-in option available to people of any age.[108]
LGBT rights
In both the 116th and 117th Congresses, Slotkin received a 100% rating from Human Rights Campaign's (HRC) Congressional Scorecard, which measures "support for equality" among members of Congress based on their voting record.[109][110] HRC endorsed her in each of her campaigns for the House.[111][112]
Student debt
In 2020, during the Trump administration, Slotkin voted against an amendment, supported by 93% of the Democratic caucus, that would provide $10,000 debt relief for student loan borrowers.[113][114] She also pushed the Department of Education to assist federal employees with student loan payments during the partial government shutdown.[115] Slotkin voted twice against a Republican-led measure that would have overturned the Biden administration's student debt forgiveness initiative.[116][117][118] In 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down that initiative.[119]
Identity politics
After the 2024 presidential election, Slotkin said that identity politics "needs to go the way of the dodo", adding that "people need to be looked at as independent Americans, whatever group they're from, whatever party they may be from."[120]
Redistricting
At a July 2025 Axios event in Washington D.C, Slotkin addressed Republican-led mid-decade redistricting efforts in Texas backed by Donald Trump, saying she would not "fight with one arm tied behind my back" if Republicans pursued what she called an aggressive partisan strategy. "If they're going to go nuclear in Texas, I'm going to go nuclear in other places. I don't want to do that, but if they're proposing to rig the game ... we're going to get in that game and fight." Her remarks came amid broader Democratic retaliatory planning and concerns about redistricting nationwide.[121]
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Personal life
Slotkin married Dave Moore, a retired Army colonel and Apache helicopter pilot, in 2011.[122][123] They had met in Baghdad during Slotkin's third tour in Iraq and lived in Holly.[122][123] The two filed for divorce in 2023.[123] Slotkin had two stepdaughters while married to Moore.[124] She is Jewish.[6]
Electoral history
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See also
References
External links
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