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Incumbent Rep. Elissa Slotkin won the Democratic primary election for Senate in Michigan on Tuesday, setting up a short general election campaign before November.
Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., defeated actor Hill Harper in the state’s Democratic primary to fill outgoing Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow’s seat.
Slotkin currently represents Michigan in the House of Representatives. She was previously a Middle East analyst at the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). She first ran for office in 2018 and defeated a Republican incumbent, flipping her district.
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In her Senate campaign, Slotkin positioned herself as a moderate in the swing state of Michigan. She has pointed to her work under both former President Obama and former President Bush to make this point.
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Slotkin has also remained careful in her stance on Israel and the war against terrorist group Hamas in Gaza. However, Michigan is home to a significant Arab population which has been pushing the Biden administration to end its military assistance to Israel. Slotkin’s Democratic opponent, Harper, has been more vocal in criticizing Israel and the Biden administration’s support for the U.S. ally.
Harper has called for a ceasefire on several occasions and had pressed Democratic front-runner Slotkin to do the same.
The Democrat nominee is now tasked with winning the general election in November, which could go either way given the battleground nature of Michigan.
Non-partisan political handicapper, the Cook Political Report, rated the open Senate seat as a “Toss Up.” The race was originally thought to be “Lean Democratic” but was shifted shortly before President Biden exited the 2024 race.
