Jewish Democrat Gets Boost As GOP Gives Up On Michigan Swing District

Updated 1:20 p.m.
A Jewish Democratic challenger for a key Michigan congressional district received a major boost when a Republican-aligned super PAC reportedly abandoned her GOP opponent to focus on more winnable contests.
Elissa Slotkin is now a favorite to oust Rep. Mike Bishop in Michigan’s 8th district after the Congressional Leadership Fund announced it would scrap $2.1 million in planned TV ads to help Bishop, The Detroit News reported Friday.
The super PAC, which received $30 million from conservative Jewish megadonors Sheldon and Miriam Adelson, has all but ceded the district and several other GOP-held suburban seats as the political climate continues to deteriorate for Republicans.
Slotkin is one of several Jewish swing district candidates who outraised their opponents during the last quarter.
The Forward now rates Slotkin as a favorite to win in November. Non-partisan election forecasters Cook Political Report and Sabato’s Crystal Ball both have the race listed as a toss-up. President Trump carried the district by more than six points. Helping her further, former president Barack Obama announced Monday that he was endorsing her and dozens of other candidates nationwide.
“CLF will continue to run strong field operations in these districts and will continue to conduct polling and evaluate races across the country, as we do everything we can to protect the Republican majority,” spokeswoman Courtney Alexander said in a statement to reporters.
While the PAC pulled major funding, the National Republican Congressional Committee made about $500,000 in ad buys in September, according to FEC filings.
Slotkin’s campaign said the ad pull shows moderates are swinging back toward the Democrats.
EXPLORE ALL THE RACES WITH JEWISH CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATES IN OUR INTERACTIVE MAP
Slotkin also fits a Democratic strategy of running people with military and security backgrounds in swing areas.
Elaine Luria, a Navy veteran, is running a strong campaign to oust incumbent Rep. Scott Taylor in a district centered around Virginia Beach.
Lauren Baer, who is vying for a West Palm Beach area district, advised former President Barack Obama on national security matters.
Luria and Baer were also endorsed by Obama on Monday.
Contact Ben Fractenberg at [email protected] or on Twitter, @fractenberg
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
2X match on all Passover gifts!
Most Popular
- 1
News A Jewish Republican and Muslim Democrat are suddenly in a tight race for a special seat in Congress
- 2
Fast Forward The NCAA men’s Final Four has 3 Jewish coaches
- 3
Film & TV What Gal Gadot has said about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
- 4
Fast Forward Cory Booker proclaims, ‘Hineni’ — I am here — 19 hours into anti-Trump Senate speech
In Case You Missed It
-
Culture In a time of tariffs and uncertainty, this is the Jewish word we need to soothe our minds and souls
-
Opinion As Zionist Jews, we must condemn Trump’s campaign to deport students
-
Opinion Trump is cracking down on universities — just like Hitler targeted academics who didn’t bow to his will
-
Fast Forward As Netanyahu arrives in Budapest, Hungary announces exit from International Criminal Court
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.