LANSING, Mich. — When U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin introduced plans to run for a vital Senate seat in Michigan, many Democrats had been happy.
The three-term Lansing-area congresswoman was among the many stars of final 12 months’s midterm election, handily successful one of many nation’s most costly contests. Her victory has largely dissuaded different outstanding Democrats from difficult her for the Senate nomination and up to now, no high-profile Republican has stepped ahead.
It’s reassured Democrats that in a 12 months when they’re defending twice as many seats as Republicans are, their standing in Michigan could also be secure.
While which may be excellent news for the hassle to guard Democrats’ fragile Senate majority, it’s complicating the get together’s bid to retake the House in 2024. Democrats want to achieve simply 5 seats to return to energy, however it’s not clear whether or not anybody else can repeat Slotkin’s success in one of the vital aggressive districts within the United States.
“It is sort of a blessing and a curse,” stated Michigan Democratic strategist Amy Chapman, who was Barack Obama’s state director throughout his first presidential marketing campaign in 2008. “Senate Democrats have gotten a good candidate but the curse is, obviously, what do you do about the House district?”
Slotkin is operating to succeed Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow, who’s retiring on the finish of her time period. The similar dynamic is unfolding elsewhere. In California, for instance, Rep. Katie Porter’s determination to enter a crowded Democratic main for the seat held by retiring Sen. Dianne Feinstein has opened the aggressive forty seventh Congressional District.
Losing both seat might put the bulk out of attain for Democrats and increase the Republicans’ cushion within the House. It additionally might complicate Democrats’ efforts to boost cash for House races. Slotkin is among the get together’s most prolific fundraisers, having pulled in $10 million for her 2022 marketing campaign. Among Democrats seen as weak final 12 months, she was outraised solely by Porter.
Democrats, together with Slotkin, insist they aren’t abandoning the districts as they eye the Senate.
“I am really dedicated – to the point of obsession – in keeping this district because we can flip the House in 2024 with the seat being held,” Slotkin stated in a latest interview.
In the House race, Michigan Republicans have already discovered their high candidate in Tom Barrett, who challenged Slotkin in 2022 and plans to run once more in 2024. A former state senator and an Army veteran, Barrett has lengthy been seen as a rising star within the get together however misplaced by greater than 5 proportion factors to Slotkin final 12 months.
Michigan’s seventh District, which was redistricted simply earlier than the 2022 midterms, is a mix of seven counties. It encompasses Republican-dominated counties corresponding to Clinton and Shiawassee and Democratic strongholds like Ingham, which is residence to the state Capitol and Michigan State University. The district’s voters vary from farmers and lawmakers to undergraduates.
Barrett will profit from title recognition after his race in opposition to Slotkin final 12 months. The National Republican Campaign Committee, the marketing campaign arm of House Republicans, has stated it plans to go “all hands on deck” to win the district in 2024.
Michigan Democrats have but to search out their alternative for Slotkin. While no candidates have formally come ahead, former state Sen. Curtis Hertel and Ingham County Clerk Barb Byrum are each severely contemplating campaigns.
Hertel represented Lansing and East Lansing from 2015 to 2022 earlier than being term-limited. He is now Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s legislative director and comes from a household of officeholders. His father, a brother and two uncles served within the Legislature and one other uncle was within the U.S. House.
Byrum, who represented a part of Ingham County within the state House from 2007 to 2012, has grown a following on social media by countering election misinformation as an area clerk.
The clock is ticking for Democrats, with neither Byrum nor Hertel having the connections or marketing campaign infrastructure of a candidate like Barrett who has run for Congress earlier than.
“The longer we don’t have a candidate, the less amount of time they have to raise money,” Byrum stated in an interview. “Within the next few months, we should have a candidate running for this seat.”
As each a state senator and consultant, Barrett has represented extra of the district up to now. But Hertel and Byrum would every have the benefit of getting represented components of Ingham County, which holds near half the district’s inhabitants and which Slotkin gained by almost 36 proportion factors.
Slotkin has pledged to work with the nominee to make sure Democrats maintain the seat. She promised constituents at a Senate marketing campaign kickoff in Lansing final month that her “first responsibility” can be to “make sure this district stays in Democratic hands.”
“To be honest, I had always thought to myself, I’m not going to be here forever,” Slotkin stated. “So how do you bring up the next group, the next crop of potential candidates? How do you take folks who have been in the state legislature and prepare them to run federally?”
Democrats up and down the poll in Michigan final 12 months benefited, partially, from blowouts on the high of the ticket and a historic abortion rights poll initiative. Michigan had the best youth turnout of any state within the nation at 37%, in line with the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement at Tufts University, which research younger voters.
This 12 months might be completely different, stated Lansing-based Democratic strategist Adrian Hemond, with favorability within the presidential election probably influencing a battleground district with no robust incumbent. While President Joe Biden gained the state in 2020, three of the 4 most important counties in Michigan’s seventh District voted closely for then-President Donald Trump.
“In some parts of this district, the former president is popular,” Hemond stated. “In other parts, he is poison and a turnout driver for Democrats.”
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