Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) is calling for new leadership in the House Democratic conference.
Slotkin made the surprising comments during a CNN interview Friday, where she also recommended that new leadership come from outside of California or New York. Her suggestions come as her party stand a 71 out of 100 chance of losing their majority in the House according to poll tracker FiveThirtyEight.
“I have always said, I think it’s time we have new leadership,” Slotkin said. “I think it’s time, frankly, that some Midwesterners get into leadership. We have a lot of New York and California; I’d like to see more diversity in leadership there. I have made a commitment to my district—I stick to that commitment.”
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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) represents San Francisco, Calif., while Democratic Caucus Chairman Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) represents parts of Brooklyn. Jeffries is widely understood to be Pelosi’s top choice as her replacement to be speaker. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-CA), who represents the Los Angeles, Calif., area, is also believed to be interested in replacing Pelosi when she retires. In addition to Pelosi and Jeffries, House Democratic leadership includes Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD), Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-GA), and Assistant Speaker Katherine Clark (D-MA).
Pelosi recently shifted her position on members of Congress trading stocks, alluding to new, bipartisan stock ban legislation that was recently introduced. She had previously argued she did not want to interfere with the free market economy.
“I’m glad she’s come around because I couldn’t disagree more with her original statements on this,” Slotkin said of Pelosi’s changing tune. “And I was surprised, I guess, when she came out that strongly in the beginning. We are in a moment in our history where we need to do everything possible to restore faith in our government.”
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The first-ever female Speaker of the House expressed her “strong optimism” to maintain the House on behalf of the Democratic party. Pelosi cited the Jan. 6 riot and the recent Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization Supreme Court ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade as incentives to vote for Democratic representatives.
Slotkin is also up for reelection, after running unopposed in the Democratic primary for Michigan’s 8th district. Republican candidate Tom Barrett will be facing off with her in November after similarly running unopposed in the Republican primary.
