Elissa Blair Slotkin (born July 10, 1976) is an American politician serving as the

U.S. representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

from since 2023. She represented the from 2019 to 2023, before redistricting. A member of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

, she previously served as a

Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...

(CIA) analyst and

Department of Defense Department of Defence or Department of Defense may refer to: Current departments of defence * Department of Defence (Australia) * Department of National Defence (Canada) * Department of Defence (Ireland) * Department of National Defense (Philipp ...

official. Her district is based in

Lansing Lansing () is the capital of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is mostly in Ingham County, although portions of the city extend west into Eaton County and north into Clinton County. The 2020 census placed the city's population at 112,644, makin ...

, and stretches into the outer northern and western suburbs of

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

. She chairs the Subcommittee on Intelligence and Counterterrorism in the

House Committee on Homeland Security The U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. Its responsibilities include U.S. security legislation and oversight of the Department of Homeland Security. Role of the commit ...

Early life and education

Slotkin was born on July 10, 1976, in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, the daughter of Curt Slotkin and Judith (née Spitz) Slotkin. She is

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

. Slotkin spent her early life on a farm in

Holly, Michigan Holly is a village in north Oakland County Oakland County is a county in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is part of the metropolitan Detroit area, located northwest of the city. As of the 2020 Census, its population was 1,274,395, making it th ...

. She attended

Cranbrook Kingswood School (''In The Right Way Quickly'') , established = , closed = , type = Independent , religious_affiliation = Methodist , president = , head_label = Headmaste ...

Bloomfield Hills Bloomfield Hills is a small city (5.04 sq. miles) in Oakland County, Michigan, Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is a northern suburb of Metro Detroit and is approximately northwest of Downtown Detroit. Except a small southern bo ...

. Her family farm was part of Hygrade Meat Company, founded by her grandfather, Hugo Slotkin. Hygrade is the original company behind

Ball Park Franks Ball Park Franks is an American brand of hot dogs made by Tyson Foods and popularized in 1958 by the Detroit Tigers of Major League Baseball. Ball Park Frank is the most consumed hot dog in America with 94.9 million consumers in 2017. In 2022, ...

, a brand now owned by

Tyson Foods Tyson Foods, Inc. is an American multinational corporation, based in Springdale, Arkansas, that operates in the food industry. The company is the world's second-largest processor and marketer of chicken, beef, and pork after JBS S.A. It annually ...

. Slotkin received a BA in sociology from

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

(1998) and an

MIA Mia, MIA, or M.I.A. may refer to: Music Artists * M.I.A. (rapper) (born 1975), English rapper and singer * M.I.A. (band), 1980s punk rock band from Orange County, California * MIA., a German rock/pop band formed in 1997 * Mia (singer) (born 1983) ...

from

Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs The School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University (SIPA) is the international affairs and public policy school of Columbia University, a private Ivy League university located in Morningside Heights, Manhattan, New York City. I ...

(2003).

Early career

Slotkin was recruited into the

after graduate school. Fluent in

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

and Swahili, she served three tours in Iraq as a CIA analyst. During the

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

administration, she worked on the Iraq portfolio for the

National Security Council A national security council (NSC) is usually an executive branch governmental body responsible for coordinating policy on national security issues and advising chief executives on matters related to national security. An NSC is often headed by a na ...

. During

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

's presidency, she worked for the State Department and the Department of Defense. Slotkin was acting assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs from 2015 to 2017. 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. Since 2019, she has served on the Transatlantic Task Force of the

German Marshall Fund The German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF) is a nonpartisan American public policy think tank that seeks to promote cooperation and understanding between North America and the European Union. Founded in 1972 through a gift from the We ...

and the Bundeskanzler-Helmut-Schmidt-Stiftung.

U.S. House of Representatives

Gretchen Whitmer and Paul Rogers speak with Elissa Slotkin

Elections

2018

In July 2017, Slotkin announced her candidacy for

Michigan's 8th congressional district Michigan's 8th congressional district is a United States congressional district in Southern Michigan and Southeast Michigan, including almost all of the state capital, Lansing. From 2003 to 2013, it consisted of all of Clinton, Ingham, and Li ...

. 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 The Affordable Care Act (ACA), formally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and colloquially known as Obamacare, is a landmark U.S. federal statute enacted by the 111th United States Congress and signed into law by Presid ...

. On August 7, she defeated

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the fi ...

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 Deborah Ann Stabenow ( ; née Greer, born April 29, 1950) is an American politician serving as the senior United States senator from Michigan, a seat she has held since 2001. A member of the Democratic Party, she became the state's first female ...

gave up the seat to run for the U. S. Senate.

2020

Slotkin was reelected in 2020 with 50.9% of the vote, defeating Republican Paul Junge.

2022

Due to redistricting, Slotkin ran for reelection in

Michigan's 7th congressional district Michigan's 7th congressional district is a United States congressional district in Southern Michigan and portions of Central Michigan. From 2004 to 2013 it consisted of all of Branch, Eaton, Hillsdale, Jackson, and Lenawee counties, and incl ...

. In the general election, which was the most expensive U.S. House race of 2022, she defeated Republican nominee Tom Barrett.

Tenure

In September 2019, Slotkin and six other freshman House Democrats authored an opinion piece in ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' calling for an impeachment inquiry into President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

. Its publication led to widespread Democratic support for an impeachment inquiry. Slotkin voted for Trump's

first First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

and second impeachments. Slotkin was the main sponsor of the 2020

Iran War Powers Resolution The War Powers Resolution (also known as the War Powers Resolution of 1973 or the War Powers Act) () is a federal law intended to check the U.S. president's power to commit the United States to an ...

, which passed 224–194.

Committee assignments

* Committee on Armed Services ** Subcommittee on Intelligence, Emerging Threats and Capabilities ** Subcommittee on Readiness (vice chair) * Committee on Homeland Security ** Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence (chair) ** Subcommittee on Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection * Committee on Veterans' Affairs **

Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs The United States Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs is one of the four subcommittees within the House Veterans' Affairs Committee. Jurisdiction From the House Rules: *''Subcommittee on Disability Assistan ...

Caucus memberships

New Democrat Coalition The New Democrat Coalition is a congressional caucus, caucus in the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives of the United States Congress made up of Democratic Party (United States), Democrats, primarily Centrism, cent ...

* Problem Solvers Caucus * House Pro-Choice Caucus

Political positions

Slotkin has been described as a

moderate Democrat New Democrats, also known as centrist Democrats, Clinton Democrats, or moderate Democrats, are a centrist ideological faction within the Democratic Party in the United States. As the Third Way faction of the party, they are seen as cultura ...

. As of October 2022, Slotkin has voted in line with Joe Biden's stated position 100% of the time.

Health care

Slotkin supports the

(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. During the

COVID-19 pandemic in the United States The COVID-19 pandemic in the United States is a part of the COVID-19 pandemic, worldwide pandemic of COVID-19, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by SARS-CoV-2, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). In the Uni ...

, Slotkin supported the bipartisan

CARES Act The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, also known as the CARES Act, is a $2.2trillion Stimulus (economics), economic stimulus bill passed by the 116th U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Donald Trump on March 27, 2 ...

relief package, which passed Congress in March 2020. In May 2020, she voted for the

HEROES Act The Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions Act, or Heroes Act (), was proposed legislation acting as a $3 trillion stimulus package in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, intended to supplement the earlier CARES Act stimulus p ...

, a $3trillion stimulus package. Slotkin was a co-sponsor of the

Honoring our PACT Act of 2022 The Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act of 2022, known as the Honoring our PACT Act of 2022, is an Act of Congress intended to significantly improve healthcare access and funding for vetera ...

, which provided funding for veterans exposed to toxic substances during military service.

Gun policy

In 2022, Slotkin voted for H.R. 1808: Assault Weapons Ban of 2022.

Abortion

Slotkin supports legal access to abortion.

Campaign finance reform

In 2022, Slotkin signed onto the Ban Corporate PACs Act, which if enacted would prevent corporations from operating a political action committee.

Electoral history

Personal life

Slotkin's husband, Dave Moore, retired as an Army colonel and

Apache helicopter The Boeing AH-64 Apache () is an American twin-turboshaft attack helicopter with a tailwheel-type landing gear arrangement and a tandem cockpit for a crew of two. It features a nose-mounted sensor suite for target acquisition and night visi ...

pilot. They met in

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...

during the

Iraq War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...

and reside in Holly. Slotkin has two stepdaughters, one an Army officer and the other a physician.

References

;Specific ;General

External links

Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin
official U.S. House website
Elissa Slotkin for Congress
campaign website * , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Slotkin, Elissa 1976 births American civil servants Jewish American people in Michigan politics Cornell University alumni School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University alumni Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Michigan Female members of the United States House of Representatives Jewish members of the United States House of Representatives Jewish women politicians Living people People from Holly, Michigan People of the Central Intelligence Agency United States Department of Defense officials 21st-century American Jews 21st-century American women