Team,

Breaking news in the race for Michigan Senate: Justin Amash, a former Congressman who represented the Grand Rapids-area for a decade, has announced that he’s forming an exploratory committee to consider joining the Republican primary for Senate in Michigan.

In announcing his exploratory committee, Amash dunked on the existing field of Republicans in the race – Mike Rogers, James Craig, Sandy Pensler, and Peter Meijer – calling them “uninspired, unserious, and unprepared.” But, like the rest of them, he appears to be reversing some key positions in order to make himself more attractive as a candidate.

Amash famously voted to impeach Donald Trump on abuse of power and obstruction of justice in December 2019, going so far as to write an op-ed in the Washington Post ceremoniously announcing that he was leaving the Republican Party to become an Independent. He left Congress after taking that vote. But now that there is the chance to run for the Senate, Amash has apparently made his peace with the Michigan Republican Party and said today that he plans to re-join the party and run for its nomination.

But while some may remember Amash as a bit of a libertarian, the reality is that his record in Congress was full of extreme and party-line positions well outside of the mainstream in Michigan. Here are a few things you should know about where Amash stands on the issues:

• Amash made a name for himself pushing to limit “government excess and overreach – except when it comes to the issue of abortion. He is passionately anti-choice, including in circumstances of rape and incest. He earned an A+ rating from Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, a leading anti-abortion extremist organization.


• He also has deep ties to the deep-pocketed DeVos family, who have spent millions on Republican politicians to advance their agenda here in Michigan and across the country. They donated over $300,000 to him during his time in Congress.


• In his time in Congress, he worked hard to repeal the Affordable Care Act – which would mean 887,000 people here in Michigan lose their healthcare coverage.


• He also championed a bill that would have forced deep cuts to Social Security and Medicare, apparently putting both in the ‘government overreach’ bucket.

Bottom line: We know that if Justin Amash wins the Republican nomination, he will advocate for the same far-right agenda that hurts Michiganders, which doesn’t make him all that different from every other Republican in this race.

Meanwhile, Washington Republicans see this seat as a top target, and millions of dollars will flood into our state to try to flip it. We’re already seeing candidates go up on TV and outside super PACs launch ad campaigns, so if we want to keep Michigan blue for Democrats we need to have the resources to fight back against whoever our opponent is.

That’s why we’re asking: Will you chip in $3 or whatever you can to ensure we have the resources to send Elissa to the Senate?

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Thank you.

Team Slotkin

PAID FOR BY ELISSA SLOTKIN FOR MICHIGAN

P.O. Box 4145
East Lansing, MI 48826

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Elissa Slotkin served in the Central Intelligence Agency and the Department of Defense. Use of her job titles and photographs during service do not imply endorsement by the Central Intelligence Agency OR the Department of Defense.