Slotkin was narrowly elected to the U.S. Senate in the 2024 election with 48.6% of the vote.[2], making her the second female senator from Michigan after retiring senator Debbie Stabenow.
Slotkin as Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs
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.[9] Slotkin was acting assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs from 2015 to 2017.[11]
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.[7]
In November 2018, Slotkin defeated Bishop with 50.6% of the vote.[1][16] She is the first Democrat to represent Michigan's 8th district since 2001,[16] when Debbie Stabenow gave up the seat to run for the U. S. Senate.
Slotkin was reelected with 50.9% of the vote, defeating Republican Paul Junge.[17]
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.[18]
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 gas pumps.[19]
She defeated Republican nominee Tom Barrett with 51.5% of the vote to Barrett's 46.5%.[20] The general election was the most expensive U.S. House race of 2022, with Slotkin raising $9.8 million.[21][22]
Slotkin criticized Barrett's stance on abortion, specifically his statement that he is "100% pro-life, no exceptions".[23] She also criticized his multiple votes against incentives for a new General Motors electric vehicle battery plant in Delta Township.[24]
She was endorsed by Republican Congresswoman Liz Cheney.[25]
During the campaign, Slotkin signed a seven-month lease on a condominium in Lansing, Michigan. The owner of the condominium was a donor to Slotkin's campaign, but the campaign said the lease was at a fair market rate.[26][27] After the election and before her February 2023 divorce, Slotkin moved back to her family farm in Holly, in Michigan's 9th congressional district.[28][29]
Slotkin attributed her victory to "losing better" in the district's Republican-leaning areas.[22] Her win defied trends in other states that resulted in Democrats narrowly losing control of the House of Representatives for the 118th Congress.[22]
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.[33] She won the Democratic primary on August 6, 2024, with 76% of the vote and narrowly defeated Republican nominee Mike Rogers[34][35] in the general election, outperforming the top of the ticket.[2]
Tenure
In 2025, Slotkin was one of 12 Democrats who joined all Republicans to vote for the final passage of the Laken Riley Act in the Senate.[36]
In 2023, Slotkin was one of two House Democrats who voted for a Republican-backed amendment that prevented Department of Defense facilities from displaying non-official flags, including the pride flag. After facing criticism for the vote, Slotkin said that it was intended to prevent the flying of "hateful flags [...] particularly the Confederate flag", adding that she would "rather support a no-flag policy than allow hateful imagery above U.S. military bases".[58][59][60] LBGTQ+ rights group Human Rights Campaign endorsed Slotkin in her 2024 Senate campaign.
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.[61][62][63] Slotkin was the main sponsor of the 2020 Iran War Powers Resolution, which sought to restrict President Donald Trump's ability to commit the United States to a war with Iran without a Congressional Declaration of War.[64] Slotkin voted against H.Con.Res. 21, which directed President Joe Biden to remove U.S. troops from Syria within 180 days.[65][66]
In 2022, Slotkin voted for H.R. 1808, the Assault Weapons Ban of 2022.[68][69] 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,[70] and passed by the House as part of the Protecting Our Kids Act.[71]
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.[75]
Impeachment
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 Trump. Its publication led to widespread Democratic support for an impeachment inquiry.[38][76] Slotkin voted to impeach Trump in both his first and second impeachments.[77][78]
LGBT rights
In both the 116th and 117th Congresses, Slotkin received a 100% rating from Human Rights Campaign's (HRC) Congressional Scorecard, which measures "support for equality" among members of Congress based on their voting record.[79][80] HRC endorsed her in each of her campaigns for the House.[81][82]
Student debt
In 2020, during the Trump administration, Slotkin voted against an amendment, supported by 93% of the Democratic caucus, that would provide $10,000 debt relief for student loan borrowers.[83][84] She also pushed the Department of Education to assist federal employees with student loan payments during the partial government shutdown.[85] Slotkin voted twice against a Republican-led measure that would have overturned the Biden administration's student debt forgiveness initiative.[86][87][88] In 2023, that initiative was struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court.[89]
Identity politics
After the 2024 presidential election, Slotkin said that identity politics "needs to go the way of the dodo", adding that "people need to be looked at as independent Americans, whatever group they're from, whatever party they may be from."[90]
Personal life
Slotkin married Dave Moore, a retired Army colonel and Apache helicopter pilot, in 2011.[91][92] They met in Baghdad during Slotkin's third tour in Iraq and lived in Holly.[91][92] The two filed for divorce in 2023.[92] Slotkin had two stepdaughters while married to Moore.[93]
