Elissa Slotkin
Elissa Blair Slotkin is an American politician and former intelligence analyst serving since 2025 as the junior United States senator from Michigan. A member of the Democratic Party, she served in the United States House of Representatives from 2019 to 2025.
Slotkin was a Central Intelligence Agency analyst and Department of Defense official, ending her career there as the acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs. In 2018 [United States House of Representatives elections|2018], she was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, representing Michigan's 8th congressional district.
Slotkin was elected to the Senate in 2024, defeating Republican nominee Mike Rogers in a close race. 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.
Early life and education
Slotkin was born on July 10, 1976, in New York City, the daughter of Judith Slotkin and Curt Slotkin. She spent her early life on a farm in Holly, Michigan. She attended Cranbrook Kingswood School in Bloomfield Hills. Her family farm was part of Hygrade Meat Company, founded by her great-grandfather Samuel Slotkin,who emigrated from Minsk in 1900. Hygrade was the original company behind Ball Park Franks, which is now owned by Tyson Foods. Judith and Curt divorced, and Judith 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.
Slotkin attended agricultural school at Cornell University, where in 1998 she earned a Bachelor of Arts in sociology.
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. In 2000–2001 she was a grant writer for Isha L'Isha.
In 2001, Slotkin completed a course in the Arabic language at the American University in Cairo. In 2003, she earned a master of international affairs from Columbia University's School of [International and Public Affairs, Columbia University|School of International and Public Affairs].
Early career
Slotkin interned at the U.S. Department of State. She worked as a political analyst and intelligence briefer 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. From 2009 to 2011, Slotkin was a senior advisor on Iraq (2003–2011)|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. She served three tours in Iraq over five years.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. From 2015 to 2017, Slotkin was acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs, where one of her responsibilities was securing Israel's qualitative military edge.
After leaving the Defense Department in January 2017, Slotkin moved back to her family's farm in Holly, where she owned and operated Pinpoint Consulting.
U.S. House of Representatives
Elections
2018
In July 2017, Slotkin announced her candidacy for Michigan's 8th congressional district. 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. On August 7, Slotkin defeated Michigan State University criminal justice professor Christopher Smith in the Democratic primary with 70.7% of the vote.In November 2018, Slotkin defeated Bishop with 50.6% of the vote. She is the first Democrat to represent Michigan's 8th district since 2001, 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.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. 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.
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.
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%. The general election was the most expensive U.S. House race of 2022, with Slotkin raising $9.8 million.Slotkin criticized Barrett's stance on abortion, specifically his statement that he is "100% pro-life, no exceptions". She also criticized his multiple votes against incentives for a new General Motors electric vehicle battery plant in Delta Township. After the election and before her February 2023 divorce, Slotkin moved back to her family farm in Holly, in Michigan's 9th congressional district.
Slotkin attributed her 2022 victory to "losing better" in the district's Republican-leaning areas. She described her district as "pro-life" and said that, while she ran one pro-choice ad, she ran four on the economy.
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".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. Slotkin voted to impeach Trump in both his first and second impeachments.
Committee assignments
- Committee on Armed Services
- * Subcommittee on Intelligence, Emerging Threats and Capabilities
- * Subcommittee on Readiness
- Committee on Homeland Security
- * Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence
- * Subcommittee on Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection|Subcommittee on Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection]
- Committee on Veterans' Affairs
- * Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs
Caucus memberships
- Black Maternal Health Caucus
- Congressional Ukraine Caucus
- New Democrat Coalition
- Problem Solvers Caucus
- Rare Disease Caucus
U.S. Senate
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. She won the Democratic primary on August 6, 2024, with 76% of the vote, and defeated Republican nominee Mike Rogers in the general election, outperforming the top of the ticket.Tenure
Early in 2025, Slotkin was one of 12 Senate Democrats who joined all Republicans to vote for the Laken Riley Act. After Trump's 2025 [Donald Trump speech to a joint session of Congress|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.Slotkin was one of seven Senate Democrats who voted to confirm Kristi Noem as Secretary of Homeland Security.
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.
In June 2025, Slotkin presented an "economic war plan", arguing that the decline of the middle class was America's greatest security threat.
In November 2025, Slotkin was one of six Democratic lawmakers to be part of a video telling servicemembers they can refuse illegal orders. President Trump called those in the video, including Slotkin, traitors who should be charged with sedition punishable by death, and shared a social media post calling for them to be hanged. Later that month, Slotkin's home received a bomb threat. In January 2026, Slotkin said she was under federal investigation due to the video.
Committee assignments
Source:- Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry
- *Subcommittee on Commodities, Derivatives, Risk Management, and Trade
- *Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy, Poultry, and Food Safety
- Committee on Armed Services
- *Subcommittee on Airland
- *Subcommittee on Cybersecurity
- *Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities
- Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs|Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs]
- *Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations
- *Subcommittee on Border Management, Federal Workforce, and Regulatory Affairs
- *Subcommittee on Disaster Management, District of Columbia, and Census
- Committee on Veterans' Affairs
Political positions
Slotkin has been described as a moderate Democrat. According to GovTrack's 2022 scorecard, she was the fifth-most conservative House Democrat. She was ranked among the most bipartisan members of the House.Abortion
In 2024, Slotkin said she supported federal legislation to codify the abortion rights established in Roe v. Wade. She was endorsed by pro-choice organizations Reproductive Freedom for All and Planned Parenthood Action Fund 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.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. She voted in favor of the bill again in 2021. Slotkin voted for a bill to overturn DC criminal code modernization which was signed into law by Biden.Slotkin opposes abolishing the death penalty. She has said it should be used in rare cases.
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 $3trillion stimulus package. In November 2021, she voted for the Build Back Better Act.In August 2022, Slotkin voted for the Inflation Reduction Act. 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.
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. 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. Slotkin voted against H.Con.Res. 21, which directed President Joe Biden to remove U.S. troops from Syria within 180 days.Israel-Palestine conflict
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.Slotkin voted against the 2023 funding bill to Israel. She criticized the House bill for requiring domestic spending cuts to fund foreign emergency aid. She also noted the bill's failure to allocate humanitarian assistance for the "dire" crisis in Gaza and highlighted the exclusion of aid to Ukraine and Taiwan.
In January 2024, Slotkin signed a letter criticizing South Africa's genocide case against Israel, calling it "grossly unfounded". In April 2024, she voted to send $17 billion in military aid to Israel during the Gaza war|military aid to Israel]. 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. New York Times">New York (state)">New York Times reported that over the course of her political career, Slotkin has received contributions from the pro-Israel lobbying group AIPAC. 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. In March 2025, Slotkin said she won majority-Muslim and majority-Arab American cities in Michigan after having sympathetic conversations with residents.
In July 2025, Slotkin missed a vote on blocking arms sales to Israel in response to the Gaza humanitarian crisis 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 but I'm not going to cut off a blanket next sale on a defensive weapon that comes through, no". 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.
Gun policy
In 2022, Slotkin voted for H.R. 1808, the Assault Weapons Ban of 2022. 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 and passed by the House as part of the Protecting Our Kids Act.After the 2023 [Michigan State University shooting] in her district, Slotkin and Senator Ed Markey introduced the Gun Violence Prevention Research Act. 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.
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.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.