By Jon King / jking@whmi.com


8th District Democrat Elissa Slotkin says she will not be voting Nancy Pelosi to return as House Speaker in the next Congress.

Slotkin, quoted in a Politico article written by Brighton native Tim Alberta, says the disappointing showing by House Democrats on November 3rd needs to serve as a wake-up call to the party that it needs to be more than just the anti-Trump party. Slotkin said she disagrees with any analysis that millions of voters turned out primarily to vote against Democrats, calling it “laughable.” She said it was obvious they were enthusiastically voting for Trump and for the Republican Party. “The brand of the national Democratic Party is mushy. People don’t know what we stand for, what we’re about.”

Slotkin, who beat Republican challenger Paul Junge by about the same margin she won the seat with in 2018, said that with Democrats holding a smaller majority in the House and Republicans likely to retain control of the Senate, it was more important than ever to be able to make deals and find compromise to get legislation passed. With that in mind, Slotkin told Alberta she would not be voting for Pelosi. “I have no idea if people are gonna run against her, or who might run against her. And I will of course have this conversation directly with her. But I believe we need new leadership.”

While she didn’t mention any possible names of who she thought would make a good leader, Slotkin says the main fracture within the party is not between moderates and progressives, but instead between politicians like her who represent competitive districts and need to work across the aisle and those who are in majority progressive districts and do not.

Slotkin says when the January 3rd roll call vote takes place, Pelosi will have less allies than she did two years ago to seek another term as Speaker. But adds that if Pelosi does manage to secure a win, she will “rally behind her and do everything she can to help the party be successful.”