Elissa Slotkin facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Elissa Slotkin
Official portrait, 2025
United States Senator from Michigan
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 2025 Serving with Gary Peters
Preceded by	Debbie Stabenow
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Michigan
In office January 3, 2019 – January 3, 2025
Preceded by	Mike Bishop
Succeeded by	Tom Barrett
Constituency	8th district (2019–2023) 7th district (2023–2025)
Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs
Acting
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, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	David Moore ​ ​ (m. 2011; div. 2023)​
Education	Cornell University (BA) Columbia University (MIA)
Awards	Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service

Elissa Blair Slotkin (born July 10, 1976) is an American politician serving since 2025 as the junior United States senator from Michigan. From 2019 to 2025, she served as the U.S. representative for Michigan's 7th congressional district. The district, numbered as the 8th from 2019 to 2023, stretches from Lansing to the outer northern suburbs of Detroit. A member of the Democratic Party, Slotkin was previously a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) analyst and Department of Defense official.

Slotkin was narrowly elected to the U.S. Senate in the 2024 election with 48.6% of the vote., making her the second female senator from Michigan after retiring senator Debbie Stabenow.

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. She is Jewish. 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.

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

Early career

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. 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 and the Bundeskanzler-Helmut-Schmidt-Stiftung.

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

2018

In July 2017, Slotkin announced her candidacy for Michigan's 8th congressional district. 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. On August 7, she defeated Michigan State University 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 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. During the campaign, Slotkin signed a seven-month lease on a condominium in Lansing, Michigan ending a week before the election. The owner had previously made small dollar contributions to her campaign, although the lease was at a fair market rate. She moved back to her family farm in Holly outside the 7th congressional district prior to the announcement of her divorce in February 2023.

..... She also criticized his multiple votes against incentives for a new General Motors electric vehicle battery plant in Delta Township.

She was endorsed by Republican Congresswoman Liz Cheney.

She defeated Republican nominee Tom Barrett with 51.5% of the vote to Barrett's 46.5%. The general election was the most expensive U.S. House race of 2022 with Slotkin raising $9.8 million.

Slotkin attributed her victory to "losing better" in the district's Republican-leaning areas. Her win defied trends in other states that resulted in Democrats narrowly losing control of the House of Representatives.

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

Caucus memberships

• New Democrat Coalition
• Problem Solvers Caucus

U.S. Senate

Elections

2024

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. She won the Democratic primary on August 6, 2024, with 76% of the vote and narrowly defeated Republican nominee Mike Rogers in the general election, outperforming the top of the ticket.

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.

Committee assignments

Source:

• Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry
• Committee on Armed Services
• Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
• Committee on Veterans' Affairs

Political positions

Slotkin has been described as a moderate Democrat. As of October 2022, Slotkin has voted in line with Joe Biden's stated position 100% of the time.

Health care

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.

During the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, Slotkin supported the bipartisan CARES Act relief package, which passed Congress in March 2020. In May 2020, she voted for the HEROES Act, a $3 trillion stimulus package.

Gun policy

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

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.

Personal life

Slotkin married Dave Moore, a retired Army colonel and Apache helicopter pilot, in 2011. They met in Baghdad during Slotkin's third tour in Iraq and lived in Holly. The two filed for divorce in 2023. Slotkin had two stepdaughters while married to Moore.

Electoral history

See also

In Spanish: Elissa Slotkin para niños

• List of Jewish members of the United States Congress
• List of Jewish American politicians
• Women in the United States House of Representatives