Friend -
A LOT has happened recently in the Michigan Senate race. So to keep you up to date, we wanted to lay out the biggest updates. So, let’s review the bidding, shall we?
Right now, there are 10 Republicans in the Michigan Senate primary, of which four are serious competitors: former Congressman Mike Rogers, former Detroit Police Chief James Craig, former Congressman Peter Meijer, and, most recently, former Senate candidate and businessman Sandy Pensler. (One additional candidate gets props for putting out a song last week for her supporters).
No matter how they spin it, each of these candidates have demonstrated a clear desire to play to the extreme of the Republican party to win this crowded primary. Even at the expense of their own dignity.
Take Mike Rogers for example: despite trying to paint himself as a moderate, his voting record in Congress tells an opposite story. He supports abortion bans even in the cases of rape, incest, and common miscarriage, and he has advocated to privatize Social Security. And in September as a signal to the far-right, he produced a video attacking the FBI for going after Trump, even though he worked for the FBI for years, and ran for Congress on his FBI credentials!
And then we have James Craig, a Republican former Detroit Police Chief competing to be the most Trump-aligned potential candidate. He is against any additional gun safety laws, he opposes all abortion, including for victims of rape and incest, and denied the results of the 2020 election. Instead of spending his campaign out in the community, we’ve seen him go on Steve Bannon’s podcast in the clear hope of currying Trump’s endorsement.
Then there’s former Congressman Peter Meijer – who was one of 10 Republican members of Congress who voted to impeach Donald Trump after the January 6th insurrection. He has done a complete 180, claiming he now would support Trump’s nomination for President. In a further show of his extremism, he has said publicly that he supports a federal ban on abortion and has campaigned on being “100% pro-life” – even in cases of rape or incest.
He has also stood against workers by vocally supporting right-to-work and other anti-union legislation. And instead of sticking to a principled approach with Trump – whom he voted to impeach after the January 6th insurrection – he has instead decided to flip-flop, claiming he would support Trump's nomination and that he didn’t think Trump incited an insurrection.
Finally, there’s Sandy Pensler, who spent over $5 million of his own money in the Senate race in 2018. He lost the Republican nomination to John James (earning 46% of the vote). He supported the 2017 Trump tax giveaway, cutting taxes for the ultra wealthy like himself, and has staked out an extreme position on abortion: he says he is “a pro-life conservative”; called Roe v. Wade a “terrible decision,” and claimed that Prop 3 in Michigan, which protected the right to choose, “went too far.”
The bottom line? These candidates are bad news for Michiganders – and it’s our goal to elect someone level-headed and responsible with a proven track record like Elissa to combat the chaos of the Republican party.
But what does all of this mean for our campaign? While Republicans sort through their messy primary and try to appeal to the extreme wing of their party, we need to share our positive message about Elissa with voters across Michigan. That's the best way to combat the negative attacks we'll face from Republicans – but it's going to take resources.
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Thank you so much for your support.
Team Slotkin
PAID FOR BY ELISSA SLOTKIN FOR MICHIGAN
P.O. Box 4145
East Lansing, MI 48826
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Elissa Slotkin served in the Central Intelligence Agency and the Department of Defense. Use of her job titles and photographs during service do not imply endorsement by the Central Intelligence Agency OR the Department of Defense.
