National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC)-targeted Democrat incumbent U.S. Representative Elissa Slotkin (D-MI-08) has a towering financial advantage in the race for Michigan’s 7th Congressional District seat.
Slotkin has raised $3,476,331.42 for the 2022 election cycle and is currently sitting on $4,508,719.04 cash on hand. State Senator and U.S. Army veteran Tom Barrett (R-Duplain), meanwhile, has brought in about 10 percent of that amount at $311,971.14 and reports $254,171.87 cash on hand. Barrett entered the race in November 2021.
FEC records show Barrett is the only Republican to have filed candidate paperwork.
The non-partisan Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission, which is in charge of the redistricting process, changed the district lines and numbering so that Slotkin is now running for Michigan’s 7th Congressional District.
According to Nate Silver’s fivethirtyeight, Slotkin’s district prior to the maps being changed was rated an R+6. She is now running in a district that has a partisan rating of R+4. The Cook Political Report currently rates the race for MI-7 as a “Tossup.”
Slotkin has been in the U.S. House of Representatives since 2019. She was elected in 2018, with 50.6% of the vote. Slotkin, along with other Democrat U.S. Representatives, authored a September 2019 op-ed in The Washington Post calling an impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump.
Prior to her holding political office, Slotkin was an analyst for the Central Intelligence Agency. She worked on Iraq for the National Security Council during the George W. Bush administration. Under Obama’s administration, she was acting assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs from 2015 to 2017.
Slotkin is a reliable vote for the Biden administration agenda. As of January 20, 2022 Slotkin’s voting record was rated by fivethirtyeight as being in line with Biden’s position 100% of the time.
If redistricting is overturned in court, then the current campaigns in Michigan could be turned on their heads.
The most prominent legal challenge to the new district lines has been dismissed, however, there may be other lawsuits that are filed. The Michigan Supreme Court recently threw out a lawsuit that was brought by Detroit lawmakers who said that the Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission’s new district lines violated the Voting Rights Act because they eliminated majority-minority districts. The lawsuit filers asked the Michigan Supreme Court to reconsider their dismissal, but that petition was denied.
Michigan’s primaries are scheduled for August 2.
According to the Michigan Secretary of State’s Office, “Democratic and Republican candidates must file a partisan nominating petition no later than 4:00 p.m., April 19, 2022.”
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Aaron Gulbransen is a reporter at The Michigan Star and The Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Elissa Slotkin” by Elissa Slotkin. Background Photo “Michigan State Capitol” by San906.
