Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin touted her efforts to find common ground with Republicans and vowed to protect reproductive rights and create more jobs during a campaign stop in Lansing.
Slotkin, a Democrat who’s running for the state’s open U.S. Senate seat, spoke Friday morning in front of dozens of people in a hotel conference room near the state capitol.
Earlier in the day, Slotkin also visited Grand Rapids alongside Senator Debbie Stabenow
and former state senator Curtis Hertel. He is now running for Slotkin’s seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.
“We got to have that American dream work for everybody and we know that it's hard,” Slotkin told attendees at the Lansing rally. “It's gotten harder in our cities, in our rural areas, people feel like they can't have the life that the American Dream represents, and that's a real problem.”
The third-term U.S. representative from Holly visited the Capitol following Michigan’s primary election, where she won the Democratic nomination by a landslide.
“To be in Lansing, the community I represent, with the woman who started it all. The first woman ever elected to federal office from the state of Michigan,” said Slotkin. “It's pretty awesome.”
Senator Stabenow has held her U.S. Senate seat since 2001. She is retiring this year and is throwing her support behind Slotkin.
“Elissa took the leadership with the House Democrats on a committee to make sure everybody voted against the efforts to cut food assistance for people,” said Stabenow at the rally. “To take away our climate support for our farmers right now who are getting hit over the head because of what's happening on the climate crisis, and to basically keep our values in place as they move things through the committee.”
Slotkin’s remarks Friday focused on her support for improving conditions for middle-class families, expanding U.S.-made manufacturing, advancing gun reform, and defending reproductive rights.
“If you want to be an elected official, you got to go after the threats that are truly harming our kids, not talking about manufactured culture war threats, not trying to distract us with books or fearing teaching black history in our schools,” said Slotkin. “Those are not threats to our children. Guns are a threat to our children.”
In November, Slotkin will face former Republican Mike Rogers in what’s expected to be one of the most expensive political races in the country.
