Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Elissa Slotkin is going up on the air with her first ad of the election cycle Tuesday, focusing on her time in national security posts under two presidents, Republican George W. Bush and Democrat Barack Obama.
Her campaign said the 30-second spot is part of a multimillion-dollar buy that launched Tuesday on broadcast, cable, digital and targeted Black radio stations across Michigan, running in the Detroit, Flint, Grand Rapids and Traverse City media markets through the Fourth of July. A spokesman declined to disclose the total buy amount.
Slotkin, a three-term congresswoman from Holly, is seeking the Democratic nomination in the Aug. 6 primary for Michigan’s open U.S. Senate seat. Other Democratic contenders include the actor and author Hill Harper of Detroit and Dearborn businessman Nasser Beydoun, though state election staff on Friday found that Beydoun lacks the required signatures to qualify for the ballot.
The Republican primary candidates are former U.S. Reps. Mike Rogers of Brighton and Justin Amash of Cascade Township, businessman Sandy Pensler of Grosse Pointe Park and physician Sherry O’Donnell.
They’re competing for the seat being vacated by U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Lansing, who is retiring. The race is rated as leaning Democratic by the Cook Political Report and as “tilts” Democratic by the Inside Elections newsletter. CNN last month pegged it among the Senate seats most likely to flip in November.
Slotkin isn’t the first on TV this election cycle. The GOP’s Pensler, who is largely self-funding his bid, has been up with TV and digital ads since the start of the month with spots going after Slotkin and the Trump-backed Rogers.
More:U.S. Senate hopeful Sandy Pensler plans TV ad blitz through Republican primary
Slotkin’s ad recounts her decision to join the Central Intelligence Agency after the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001, serving three tours in Iraq and returning to posts at White House National Security Council and later at the Pentagon.
“For me service is not about partisanship, it’s about doing what’s right to protect our country,” Slotkin says speaking to the camera in the ad. “I approve this message because I refuse to let politics split us apart. When we work together, there’s no problem we can’t solve.”
The introductory ad with its emphasis on her national service is reminiscent of her first TV ad during her first run for Congress in 2018 when she was running against then-U.S. Rep. Mike Bishop, R-Rochester, and looking to introduce herself to voters.
“Elissa Slotkin literally voted for Joe Biden’s policies 100% of the time, so it is a bit ridiculous that she is still claiming to be bipartisan,” said Maggie Abboud, spokeswoman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee that’s backing Rogers.
A planned Senate debate among the candidates planned for the Detroit Regional Chamber’s Mackinac Policy Conference on Thursday was abruptly canceled last week after the chamber said Rogers, Amash and Slotkin refused to take part.
mburke@detroitnews.com
