Who is Elissa Slotkin, and why did Dems choose her for the party’s rebuttal to Trump speech?

Democrats picked freshman Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., who represents a swing state, to give the party’s official response to President Donald Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress Tuesday night. 

“BIG: I’m announcing @SenatorSlotkin will deliver our Democratic response to Trump’s Joint Address. Nothing short of a rising star in our party – she’s dedicated her life to our country. She will layout the fight to tackle the deep challenges we face and chart a path forward,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., revealed on X recently. 

Slotkin was elected to an open Senate seat in Michigan, which was also won by Trump in the same election. She wrote on X, “I’m looking forward to speaking directly to the American people next week. The public expects leaders to level with them on what’s actually happening in our country.”

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New Sen. Elissa Slotkin, will be giving the Democratic response to Trump’s speech to Congress on Tuesday evening. (Reuters)

“From our economic security to our national security, we’ve got to chart a way forward that improves people’s lives in the country we all love, I look forward to laying that out. Tune in,” she previewed. 

The senator received a bachelor’s degree at Cornell University and a master’s degree from Columbia University.

Slotkin spent much of her career in the national security space, serving three tours in Iraq as a CIA analyst alongside the U.S. military. After that, she worked in multiple roles in the Pentagon and White House under two different presidents, George W. Bush and Barack Obama. In 2014, Obama nominated Slotkin to serve at the Pentagon as assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs.

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She then chose to run for Congress in 2018 in Michigan, where she grew up. 

Slotkin managed to defeat a Republican incumbent in a key Michigan swing district. She served several terms as a member of the House of Representatives before choosing to run for Senate to replace former Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich.

Despite Trump winning the battleground state in 2024, Slotkin pulled out her own win for Democrats, beating the GOP contender Mike Rogers by less than a percentage point. 

Since coming to the Senate, she’s offered some stark criticism of her party, urging Democrats to get away from identity politics. 

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Schumer announced that Slotkin would give the party’s response to Trump’s address. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

“As a moderate Democrat, I think she was an excellent choice,” Jim Manley, former senior communications advisor and spokesman for former Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and the Senate Democratic Caucus, told Fox News Digital.

He said the choice of Slotkin would be “especially” good if “Trump just throws red meat to the base while using the kind of unhinged rhetoric that will turn off swing voters.” 

However, “based on years of experience dealing with these when [I was] working for Sen. Reid, they are usually much more of a hassle than they are ever worth,” he added. 

Jim Kessler, former senior aide to Schumer, told Fox News Digital he was a fan of Slotkin for the response. “She’s tough, smart and unafraid to ruffle feathers,” he said. 

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Rep. Elissa Slotkin speaks on stage during the Democratic National Convention on Aug. 22, 2024, in Chicago. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

“She also comes from the centrist wing of the Democratic Party and that’s important as a signal to voters. I expect she’ll focus on bread and butter issues, because right now the middle class is starting to lose confidence in Trump’s handling of the economy,” he continued. 

According to Michigan Republican strategist Jason Cabel Roe, Slotkin is “one of the better options Democrats have.”

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The more “centrist” senator’s response comes at a time when Democrats are “in absolute disarray,” he said. 

“You are seeing, I think, a real tug of war between the more progressive elements of the party and the more traditional elements of the party,” Roe added. 

Slotkin’s office declined to comment when reached by Fox News Digital.