DES MOINES, Iowa — Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., pitched herself here Tuesday as an advocate for Midwest pragmatism that she believes can help her party — and the country — navigate past the stormy politics of President Donald Trump.
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Using her keynote address at a Polk County Democratic Party dinner to underline Iowa’s political influence as a potential early contest in the 2028 presidential race, Slotkin urged her audience to vet White House hopefuls carefully.
“You guys are Iowa,” Slotkin said. “You’re going to see every Tom, Dick and Harry candidate come through here, right? I want you to ask what their offensive plan is, their Project 2029. What is their value proposition that they’re going to offer to the American people that is going to offer an alternative to what Trump is doing, rather than just pointing at him and saying, ‘He’s bad, he’s bad, he’s bad, he’s bad’?”
Slotkin, who has been building a national presence since she narrowly won her Senate seat in 2024, is viewed as a possible presidential candidate. Her speech ended a packed day of politicking for Slotkin in a state that previously held Democrats’ first presidential caucuses and is angling to host an early nominating contest again in 2028.
Over lunch in nearby Indianola, Slotkin plied a small focus group of Trump voters with questions about what made an ideal presidential candidate. Later, in a private room at a craft beer bar blocks from the State Capitol, she campaigned alongside state Sen. Sarah Trone Garriott, a Democrat running to flip a Republican congressional seat.
“I feel a kinship with the rest of the Midwest,” Slotkin, whose recent travels have also taken her to places like Pittsburgh and Eau Claire, Wisconsin, responded when a reporter asked her about her decision to visit Iowa. “Us Midwestern Democrats need to stick together. It’s a tough thing to be a Midwestern Democrat, right?”
“Sometimes,” Slotkin added, “the national party forgets about the middle of the country or forgets about us until the federal elections or national elections.”
Pressed about whether she sees herself as a national candidate in 2028, Slotkin answered somewhat coyly — but pointedly did not rule out a presidential bid.
“You know, the minute you try and set foot in Iowa, the people kind of lose their minds a little bit,” she began, before she reiterated her commitment to the Midwest and desire to elevate Democrats in Republican-leaning districts.
“If I can be a part of that change — and now I’m a senator, so I have a bigger opportunity to do that — I’m here for that,” she added. “I’m not announcing anything. There’s no big, you know, whatever, announcement to be made. But, yeah, do I want to be in that national conversation and push my own party to be better, because I like winning and I don’t like when people who try to destroy democracy are in the White House? Yeah.”
In an interview, Slotkin went a bit further.
“I’m literally not arrogant enough to think that I’m the only person who can do this,” she said. “If there was someone who I really felt had what it takes to win, I’d get behind that person. I’m a new senator. I’m new to this level of elected office. But if we get through the midterms and I don’t see it emerging from other leaders as they start to announce and people decide and don’t decide, you know, I wouldn’t rule it out. But there’s a long road before we get there.”
Addressing the Polk County Democrats, Slotkin spoke of a “constant state of chaos and urgency” under Trump.
“Is there anyone else,” she asked, “who, every couple of days, just needs to, like, check out and watch bad trash television?”
Democrats, Slotkin said in her remarks, need to have “an honest conversation” about their future and how they can win again in tough states like Iowa, which has favored Trump in three straight elections after having backed President Barack Obama twice.
“You know, we used to talk about are you a progressive or are you a moderate,” Slotkin said. “That’s not the debate anymore. The debate is not between progressive and moderate. It’s fight or flight.”
“There are plenty of people that I serve with who are on Team Flight,” she added. “And I will tell you that I am a good Midwestern Democrat. I fall more on the pragmatic and moderate side of the house, but I am on Team Fight 100%.”
Trump last year accused Slotkin and other Democratic lawmakers of “seditious behavior” — “punishable by death,” in his words — after they posted a video urging military and intelligence officers to “refuse illegal orders” from the Trump administration. Slotkin received a bomb threat at her home following Trump’s accusation.
Trump’s Justice Department, meanwhile, tried but failed to secure indictments against Slotkin and her colleagues. After her event here with Trone Garriott, Slotkin, a former CIA analyst and Defense Department aide, weighed in on Trump’s threat earlier in the day to launch a destructive attack on civilian infrastructure in Iran.
“I just know,” Slotkin said, “as someone who literally made a video in November telling uniformed military that if they’re asked to do something illegal, they have a responsibility to push back, right, according to the Uniform Code of Military Justice — we made that video for moments exactly like this.”
But Slotkin’s eagerness to present herself as a reasonable Midwesterner who can talk to people on both sides of the political spectrum was the more prevalent theme of her day in Iowa.
“If you’re in this room, I don’t know if you’re a Democrat or a Republican or an independent, but we’re Midwesterners,” Slotkin said at the Trone Garriott event, which focused on health care affordability. “We know that our neighbors often vote differently than we do, right? … My dad was a lifelong Republican, my mom a lifelong Democrat. It was totally normal when I was growing up to do that. We were more likely to fight Michigan versus Michigan State than Democrat versus Republican.”
Slotkin then took a dramatic bow and cheered the Michigan Wolverines’ victory Monday night before in the NCAA men’s basketball championship.
“We’ll win it pretty, we’ll win it messy,” Slotkin said. “But we won it.”
Later, at the dinner, Slotkin praised Trone Garriott. “It is nice,” Slotkin said, “to watch another Midwestern badass woman in action.”
Speaking to reporters after their joint event, Trone Garriott emphasized why she found Slotkin’s visit significant.
“It means a lot to me as a Democrat that has consistently won in Republican districts to have a Democrat that has consistently won in Republican districts to show up and support me,” she said. “People are upset with the political system as it is. They’re mad at both parties for good reason.”
That type of frustration was on the menu at the focus group lunch organized by Majority Democrats, a political organization that Slotkin and others are using to advance a new course for their party. The five participants had responded to an ad seeking open-minded potential swing voters and were paid $200 for their time.
Slotkin introduced herself as a senator from Michigan but avoided mention of her political affiliation until the end. As she took small bites from her turkey sandwich, she conversationally surveyed the three women and two men seated at her table. Her questions ranged from open-ended — “What’s your hot take?” she asked them twice — to precise.
“If you could build a candidate in a test tube to be your ideal,” she wondered at one point, “what would that look like? How could someone say, ‘OK, I’m going to restore your faith’?”
And then, probing why they supported Trump over then-Vice President Kamala Harris, Slotkin asked: “What would have gotten you to actually consider a Democrat?”
The people around the table said they wanted a candidate who is bold but also kind and genuine. And they preferred someone who is independent and doesn’t vote in lockstep with their party. One of the men, Ed Klavins, a retiree from Urbandale, grumbled about how Harris infamously said she couldn’t think of anything she would have done differently from President Joe Biden.
“I remember,” Slotkin said, “that exact moment.”
Klavins, who cited political commentator Bill Maher and Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania as Democrats he admires, told reporters after the lunch that he found Slotkin genuine.
“I liked her,” he said.
Later, in her interview with NBC News, Slotkin said she didn’t believe there was one moment that doomed Harris’ campaign.
“But there were certainly certain ads and certain appearances that I remember, like, stopping in my tracks,” she said. “And I remember that one, and I just said, ‘That’s not going to work.’”