Inside two Michigan Democrats' 'Thelma and Louise' tour

Fresh off her Tuesday night victory in the Democratic U.S. Senate primary, U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-Holly) rallied alongside retiring U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Lansing) throughout the state, with the lawmakers reaching their final stop Friday in Lansing.

After joining U.S. Hillary Scholten (D-Grand Rapids) and Michigan Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks (D-Grand Rapids) in Grand Rapids earlier in the day, Slotkin and Stabenow brought their “Thelma and Louise” tour to an end alongside former State Sen. Curtis Hertel (D-East Lansing), who is looking to succeed Slotkin in Michigan’s 7th Congressional District.

“I’ve been lucky in my career to follow strong, powerful women,” Hertel said. “I got to follow Gov. [Gretchen] Whitmer into the state Senate and hopefully, with all of your help, I get to follow Congressman Slotkin in Congress.”

Hertel praised both Stabenow and Slotkin for working across the aisle, saying there’s a need for more politicians who can work with people they disagree with to deliver results.

He blasted Slotkin’s opponent, former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers (R-White Lake), arguing Rogers had consistently put his pocketbook before the needs of the people.

“[Rogers] left the U.S. House and moved to another house in Florida, one that had a really nice waterfront view. And you know, we want him to enjoy it again, which is why we’re going to send him back there in November,” Hertel said.

Stabenow recapped the events of the previous days, traveling from Detroit to Grand Rapids, and stopping in South Haven for the blueberry festival, joking their tour hadn’t gone off the cliff yet — in a nod to the cult classic’s famous ending — but that they had passed a few police cars, with Slotkin later admitting she was driving a “little bit faster than I should have been.”

While she said she was confident Slotkin would win in November, Stabenow warned mid-Michigan voters against taking anything for granted.

“We need to be doing everything we can to keep that going and keep people engaged for the future. We absolutely do,” Stabenow said.

“Let’s be clear, we can’t let [former President] Donald Trump or [Ohio U.S. Sen.] J.D. Vance anywhere near the Oval Office again,” Stabenow said before expressing similar statements Hertel made about Rogers and his own opponent for the 7th District, former state Sen. Tom Barrett (R-Charlotte).

The 2024 election is centered on shared American values, and the rights and freedoms citizens fight for every day as well as those they want to restore and protect, Stabenow said.

“I can’t believe it’s 2024 and I’m having to talk about women making our own, not only decisions on abortion care, but birth control and IVF. I mean, this isn’t 1824 — this is 2024 — and we’re having to talk about this. It’s stunning and it’s scary, and we are not going to go back,” Stabenow said.

Slotkin understands that politics is a team sport, and that legislating is more than making speeches, Stabenow said, pointing to Slotkin’s effort leading opposition to the food assistance cuts and weakened language around climate conservation in the House version of the farm bill.

Because of Slotkin’s efforts, Stabenow said she is now in a position as Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee chair to negotiate those items.

Before passing Slotkin the microphone, Stabenow reflected on her time serving the people of Michigan in the Legislature, the U.S. House and finally the U.S. Senate.

“It has been the honor of my lifetime to suit up every day and work to get things done for you and for our wonderful state,” Stabenow said. “I care deeply about Michigan, and I want to pass the torch to someone who loves Michigan as much as I do. There is no one more qualified, more talented, more hardworking … that I would love to pass the torch to than our next senator, Elissa Slotkin.”

In her speech, Slotkin emphasized Stabenow’s role as a trailblazer for women in politics.

“I think it’s easy to forget in the state of Michigan, where we seem to have really figured out how to elect women, it’s hard to sometimes remember what it means to be a first and how it wasn’t that long ago that [Stabenow] was breaking these incredible ceilings for all of us,” Slotkin said.

“The thing that I always tell people is there was never a moment where I said, ‘Gosh, I wonder if Michigan will elect a woman. Like I’m thinking about running, should I? Is it possible for a woman to win?’ That never crossed my mind, because of her, right? Because she had done it,” Slotkin said.

As she heads toward the general election, Slotkin cautioned her supporters against assuming the race is won, pointing to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s loss in the 2016 presidential election.

“We thought someone was going to win in 2016 too and had that feeling, that pit in our stomach the day after the election, when we realized that we thought it was in the bag and it was not in the bag. We’re not going to have that feeling again,” Slotkin said, pushing her supporters to put in the extra work while campaigning.

Looking at the election, Slotkin outlined her four reasons for running, contrasting herself with Rogers.

When discussing opportunities for Americans to make it into the middle class, Slotkin focused on supporting job creation and union jobs while bringing down costs for childcare, healthcare, post-secondary education and housing, blasting Rogers for voting to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

Slotkin’s second reason centered on onshoring manufacturing, as she pointed to supply chain issues during the COVID-19 pandemic, the global chip shortage and concerns about pharmaceutical manufacturing in the U.S.

“Let’s be clear: The conversation about make more things in America is very, very zero-sum. If we don’t make the next generation of vehicles, China will. If we don’t make the next generation of chips, China will,” Slotkin said, arguing that Barrett had opposed policies to bring “a manufacturing renaissance to the state of Michigan,” and that Rogers was fighting against progress.

In an email, Barrett campaign strategist Jason Roe said that Barrett supports manufacturing and those who work in Michigan’s manufacturing sector, but opposes taxpayer-funded business incentives.

“Taxpayers expect their tax dollars to fund education, infrastructure, and essential services, not give welfare to Wall Street. His focus is on those priorities specified by industry: talent and talent development, the cost of energy, and the regulatory environment,” Roe said.

“These career politicians have made these problems worse and think they can paper them over with taxpayer-funded handouts. However, the promises made by these politicians when they voted to spend billions on the corporations have not materialized and we are nowhere near seeing the jobs promised by the companies who received the handouts,” he said.

Slotkin listed protecting children as the third reason for her Senate bid, calling for action on gun violence while slamming Republicans for supporting books bans and attacks on teaching Black history in schools.

In her last point, Slotkin said it’s time for Americans to start playing offense in protecting their rights.

While Rogers has said he wouldn’t support proposals to restrict abortion that conflict with Michigan’s law, and spoke out against Alabama’s restrictions on IVF Slotkin warned voters against taking Rogers at his word, pointing to Roger’s past record against abortion.

“People tell you who they are. They tell you. Believe them, believe them. And if you think that Mike Rogers is our champion for our rights and our democracy, I got a bridge I want to sell you down the street,” Slotkin said.

Michigan Advance is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Michigan Advance maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Susan J. Demas for questions: info@michiganadvance.com. Follow Michigan Advance on Facebook and X.