Elissa Slotkin

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Elissa Slotkin
File:Elissa Slotkin, official portrait, 116th Congress.jpg
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Michigan's 8th district
Assumed office
January 3, 2019
Preceded by Mike Bishop
Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs
In office
November 14, 2014 – January 20, 2017
President Barack Obama
Preceded by Derek Chollet
Succeeded by Kenneth Handelman (Acting)
Personal details
Born Elissa Blair Slotkin
(1976-07-10) July 10, 1976 (age 48)
New York City, New York, U.S.
Political party Democratic
Spouse(s) David Moore (m. 2017)
Children 2 stepdaughters
Residence Holly, Michigan, U.S.
Education Cornell University (BA)
Columbia University (MIA)
Awards Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service
Website House website

Elissa Blair Slotkin (born July 10, 1976) is an American politician serving as the U.S. Representative for Michigan's 8th congressional district since 2019.[1] A member of the Democratic Party, she previously served as a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) analyst and Department of Defense official. Her district is based in Lansing, and stretches into the outer northern and western suburbs of Detroit.

Early life and education

Slotkin was born on July 10, 1976, in New York City, the daughter of Curt Slotkin and Judith (née Spitz) Slotkin.[2][3] She is Jewish.[3][4][5] Slotkin 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 grandfather, Hugo Slotkin. Hygrade is the original company behind Ball Park Franks, a brand now owned by Tyson Foods.[6]

Slotkin received a BA in sociology from Cornell University (1998) and an MIA from Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs (2003).[7]

Early career

File:Elissa Slotkin.jpg
Slotkin while serving in the Obama administration

Slotkin was recruited into 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.[6] Slotkin was acting assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs from 2015 to 2017.[8]

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.[9] Since 2019, she has served on the Transatlantic Task Force of the German Marshall Fund and the Bundeskanzler-Helmut-Schmidt-Stiftung.[10]

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

In July 2017, Slotkin announced her candidacy for Michigan's 8th congressional district.[11] 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.[12] On August 7, she defeated Michigan State University criminal justice professor Christopher Smith in the Democratic primary, with 70.7% of the vote.[13]

In November 2018, Slotkin defeated Bishop[1] with 50.6% of the vote.[14] She is the first Democrat to represent Michigan's 8th district since 2001,[14] when Debbie Stabenow gave up the seat run for the U. S. Senate.

Tenure

In September 2019, Slotkin and six other freshman House Democrats authored an opinion piece in The Washington Post calling for an impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump. Its publication led to widespread Democratic support for an impeachment inquiry.[15][16] Slotkin voted for Trump's first and second impeachments.

Slotkin was the main sponsor of the 2020 Iran War Powers Resolution, which passed 224–194.[17]

Committee assignments

Caucus memberships

Political positions

Slotkin is a moderate Democrat.[16][22]

Slotkin supports the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). During her 2020 campaign, she described the protection of health care coverage for individuals with preexisting conditions as the most important issue for her district. She supports allowing Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices for those insured by Medicare.[23]

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Slotkin supported the bipartisan CARES Act relief package, which passed Congress in March 2020. She also voted in May 2020 to support the Heroes Act, a $3 trillion stimulus package that the Republican-led Senate did not take up.[24]

Electoral history

Michigan's 8th congressional district, 2020[25]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Elissa Slotkin (incumbent) 217,929 50.9
Republican Paul Junge 202,519 47.3
Libertarian Joe Hartman 7,896 1.8
Total votes 428,344 98
Democratic primary results
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Elissa Slotkin 57,819 70.7
Democratic Christopher E. Smith 23,996 29.3
Total votes 81,815 100.0
Michigan's 8th congressional district, 2018
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Elissa Slotkin 172,880 50.6
Republican Mike Bishop (incumbent) 159,782 46.8
Libertarian Brian Ellison 6,302 1.8
Taxpayers David Lillis 2,629 0.8
Total votes 341,593 100.0
Democratic gain from Republican

Personal life

Slotkin's husband, Dave Moore, retired as an Army colonel and Apache helicopter pilot.[26] They met in Baghdad during the Iraq War and reside in Holly.[26] Slotkin has two stepdaughters, one an Army officer and the other a physician.[27]

See also

References

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  10. The German Marshall Fund and Bundeskanzler-Helmut-Schmidt-Stiftung Launch “Transatlantic Task Force” Setting Path Forward for U.S.-Europe Relations Archived December 14, 2019, at the Wayback Machine German Marshall Fund, press release of December 12, 2019.
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  17. These Republicans voted yes on the War Powers resolution Archived January 10, 2020, at the Wayback Machine By Clare Foran, Haley Byrd, Holmes Lybrand, & Caroline Kelly, CNN, January 10, 2020
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 This article incorporates public domain material from the United States Government document "US Department of Defense".

External links

United States House of Representatives
Preceded by Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Michigan's 8th congressional district

2019–present
Incumbent
United States order of precedence (ceremonial)
Preceded by United States representatives by seniority
349th
Succeeded by
Abigail Spanberger

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116th
117th
Senate: D. Stabenow (D) · G. Peters (D)

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