Elissa Slotkin

Elissa Slotkin (born July 10, 1976) is an American politician serving as the junior United States senator from Michigan since January 2025. A member of the Democratic Party, she previously represented Michigan's 7th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2019 to 2025, having first won election in 2018 by flipping the then-8th district from Republican control amid a broader Democratic wave. Prior to entering Congress, Slotkin worked as a CIA analyst specializing in the Middle East, conducting three tours in Iraq embedded with U.S. military units, and later held senior national security roles, including principal deputy assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs and positions at the Pentagon and White House under both the Bush and Obama administrations. In the Senate, she succeeded retiring Democrat Debbie Stabenow after narrowly defeating Republican Mike Rogers in the 2024 election for Michigan's open seat, a contest marked by its status as a key battleground amid national partisan divides. Slotkin has emphasized her intelligence and defense experience in advocating for policies on foreign affairs, counterterrorism, and domestic security, positioning herself as a pragmatic voice on national security issues within her party.

Elissa Slotkin was born Elissa Blair Slotkin on July 10, 1976, in New York City. Her family traces its roots to Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe; her great-grandfather arrived in the United States from Minsk in 1899 without a passport and founded Hygrade Food Products, a Detroit-based meatpacking company that specialized in processed meats, including the Ball Park Franks brand first sold at Tiger Stadium.

Slotkin is Jewish, as confirmed by multiple biographical accounts and her participation in Jewish ceremonial traditions. On January 5, 2025, she was sworn into the U.S. Senate using a Torah scroll from the Women's Rabbinic Network, a Reform Jewish organization, reflecting an alignment with Reform Judaism.

In Michigan's Jewish community, Slotkin has maintained visibility through engagements such as virtual discussions with the Jewish Federation of Detroit on policy matters in January 2021 and commendations from local rabbis for her support of Israel following her 2024 Senate election. Nationally, she has addressed Jewish groups on rising antisemitism, particularly from left-wing sources, during a September 2025 Capitol Hill briefing, and participated in Jewish Heritage Month events.