Democratic U.S. Sen. Elissa Slotkin is taking heat from the Congressional Black Caucus and a couple of Michigan Democrats for suggesting both the Senate and House need a new generation of leaders because “the old models are not working.”
Her remarks on Stephen A. Smith’s podcast on SiriusXM last week prompted pushback from House Democrats, including the chair and former chairs of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) who accused Slotkin of “posturing for higher office in 2028.”
Slotkin of Holly on the podcast suggested the Democratic Party hasn’t recovered from getting “shellacked” in the 2024 election.
“We have literally found ourselves in a situation where we just don’t have people who understand the moment and understand what leadership means,” Slotkin said.
“That you chart a course, and you explain to people how are we going to get from this dark moment to a better place. Instead of just ― circular firing squad, Dem on Dem violence. No one is talking about what they want to do, and that, to me, is a fundamental of leadership.”
Asked if she was talking about replacing House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, Slotkin replied: “I’m saying if people can’t understand that the game has … changed and they can’t adapt, then they need to let others lead.”
Slotkin has called for a new generation of leadership in her party and a new message since at least 2023, when she declared her bid for the U.S. Senate.
Her remarks on the podcast prompted statements of support for Jeffries from Democratic lawmakers, including the CBC chairs and from Reps. Debbie Dingell of Ann Arbor and Haley Stevens of Birmingham.
Stevens, who wants to join Slotkin in the Senate next year, said on social media Friday that she can’t wait to see Jeffries become the first Black speaker of the House.
Congressional Black Caucus leaders on Friday expressed support for Jeffries in response to Slotkin: “House Democrats don’t need a lesson on reading the political moment from someone who handed Donald Trump one of the most corrupt cabinets in American history.”
The CBC leaders said that Slotkin’s votes for several members of Trump’s cabinet, such as Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, are not the posture of someone who “understood the moment” after the 2024 election. The CBC chairs also claimed that Slotkin voted to confirm Pam Bondi as attorney general, but she did not.
“Before attempting to weigh in on House Democratic leadership, Senator Slotkin should account for her own role in enabling a racist administration …” the CBC said in a statement.
The CBC said House Democrats are focused on providing for Americans rather than “engaging in distractions that only serve to divide Democrats at a moment when unity and resolve are essential.”
Dingell, in a rare public swipe at a fellow Michigan Democrat, contended that her colleague seems to dislike anyone in leadership.
“I’m quite stunned that someone who has previously complained about Democrats ‘turning our guns on each other’ continues a pattern of doing just that,” Dingell told The Detroit News. “Hakeem Jeffries is leading us most effectively in that goal, and I look forward to calling him Mr. Speaker.”
Jeffries was asked on CNN Friday about Slotkin’s remarks, and he said the challenge before Democrats right now is taking back control of the U.S. House.
“I have no idea what Elissa Slotkin was talking about,” Jeffries said.
El-Sayed admits Rogers is ‘not a pharma lobbyist’
After GOP U.S. Senate hopeful Mike Rogers of White Lake Township sent a cease and desist letter demanding that Democratic candidate Abdul El-Sayed stop calling him a “pharma lobbyist,” El-Sayed has admitted that Rogers isn’t a lobbyist.
He has also had some fun with the whole dustup.
“Uh-oh, Mike Rogers is really, really mad … because I called him a pharma lobbyist. My mistake, he just spent so much time in Congress helping the pharmaceutical industry that I thought he was a pharma lobbyist,” El-Sayed said in a video posted to X.com.
“So let me be clear, when I say Mike Rogers, do not think of a pharma lobbyist. When I say pharma lobbyist, do not think of Mike Rogers …”
El-Sayed has since taken to referring to Rogers on social media with variations of Mike “Not a pharma lobbyist” Rogers: “The energy. The charisma. Missed his calling as a Pharma lobbyist.”
Rogers had threatened to sue El-Sayed for defamation if he didn’t stop referring to Rogers as a pharma lobbyist who took a $14 million payout after leaving Congress. He has never registered in a lobbyist or taken a $14 million payout, his lawyers said last week.
“This is exactly the kind of thing that allows people to lose faith in politics, because it’s just so unfounded in any speck of truth,” Rogers told The Detroit News.
Speaker Mike Johnson fundraised in northern Michigan resort village
U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson was in the northern Michigan resort village of Bay Harbor earlier this month for a fundraiser benefiting the Louisiana Republican’s Grow The Majority PAC.
The event at the resort destination on Little Traverse Bay took place on June 17, according to an invite obtained by The News, and included a “VIP roundtable and general reception” with Johnson. U.S. Reps. Jack Bergman, John Moolenaar and Tom Barrett were listed as special guests as well as other “members of the Michigan Republican delegation.”
Grow the Majority is Johnson’s chief fundraising arm and is used to raise money for Republican House campaigns and the organizations that support them, Johnson has previously said.
Barrett, R-Charlotte, is in a closely watched race to retain his seat in the swing 7th Congressional District.
Schuette supports primaries for AG
Former Attorney General Bill Schuette said Friday he supports moving the nomination of attorney general candidates from a partisan convention process to a vote by the people on the primary ballot.
During an appearance on WKAR-TV’s Off The Record Friday, the Midland Republican said running the nomination process through the primary ballot would allow for more “participative democracy.”
“I think we ought to move up the date of selecting the secretary of state and attorney general, do it in a primary, but do it in June,” Schuette said. “Because when you have it in August, you go through the sharpness of the campaign, you don’t have enough time to kiss and make up, and then it’s Labor Day and then, boom, November is upon you.”
The Legislature has been exploring proposals to put before voters that would move the attorney general and secretary of state races to the primary ballot and change the university board selection system from the ballot to a gubernatorial appointee system. The chambers missed the deadline to put such a proposal on the August primary ballot, but could still do so for the November general election ballot.
Democratic Attorney General Dana Nessel has also expressed support for moving to attorney general nominations to the primary elections.
Huizenga launches microsite targeting McCann
The campaign for Republican U.S. Rep. Bill Huizenga of Holland last week launched a website trying to stick his Democratic challenger, state Sen. Sean McCann of Kalamazoo, with a new nickname.
TaxManMcCann.com now directs to a webpage featuring black-and-white photos of the state lawmaker alongside claims that he “made a career out of raising costs on families” and would prioritize passing “the largest tax increase in American history” if elected to Congress.
McCann’s campaign hit back at the website, calling it a distraction from Huizenga’s record as an eight-term congressman.
“Bill Huizenga is lying about Sean because he knows his own record is disqualifying: Huizenga spent years in Washington cutting his own taxes, increasing his net worth by as much as five times, and sticking Michigan families with the bills,” McCann spokesperson Simone Archer-Krauss said in a statement.
McCann’s campaign, among other highlights of his legislative record, pointed to his vote for a 2023 Michigan tax bill that lowered taxes on retirement income and boosted a credit that benefits low-wage workers.
The two men are facing off in Michigan’s 4th District, which covers a swath of the west Michigan lakeshore. Huizenga won reelection by about 14 points in 2024, but Democrats fancy their chances in the current political climate.
McCann outraised Huizenga in the first quarter of 2026, a rarity in the Republican’s career. He has only been outraised by a Democratic challenger in one other three-month stretch (the third quarter of 2018) since his first U.S. House win in 2010.
Detroit area Democrats begin TV ad push
Democrats jostling for their party’s nomination in two suburban Detroit U.S. House districts have begun launching television ads now that absentee ballots are available.
Christina Hines, a former special victims prosecutor in Wayne County, was first out of the gate in Michigan’s 10th District with an ad released on Tuesday that highlights her experience as a special victims prosecutor and as a mother.
“As a special victims prosecutor, my work was a different kind of chaos. Protecting families from predators isn’t just a job for me, it’s a mission,” she said in the 30-second spot featuring her husband and three children. Hines, of Warren, is one of three Democrats running in a swing district that covers southern Macomb County, and Rochester and Rochester Hills in Oakland County.
She continues: “Now families like ours are getting screwed by a system that only works for the rich. Congress has too many millionaires, but not nearly enough moms who get things done. I’m Christina Hines, and I approve this message because I am a mom on a mission, and these corrupt politicians have never met a prosecutor like me.”
Former Pontiac Mayor Tim Greimel, one of Hines’ opponents, launched his first ad on Friday. He highlighted his top accomplishments as a state legislator and name-checked Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
“Who delivered health care to 700,000 Michiganders? Tim Greimel and Gretchen Whitmer,” a narrator said. “As Michigan’s House Democratic leader, Greimel worked with Whitmer, stood up to Republicans, expanded Medicaid, and raised the minimum wage. Now, who could Macomb County count on to take on Trump? That’s Tim Greimel, too.”
The third Democrat running in the district, Sterling Heights attorney Eric Chung, is expected to launch his first ad in the coming days.
In the 13th District, state Rep. Donavan McKinney, D-Detroit, released his first ad in his bid to unseat two-term U.S. Rep. Shri Thanedar of Detroit. The spot is about his bio but also calls Thanedar part of the problem, saying “he’s not like us,” noting that he takes corporate PAC money and has voted for a resolution expressing gratitude to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The winner of the Democratic primary will likely face Rochester Hills Army veteran Mike Bouchard in the November general election. Top Republicans in Washington, including President Donald Trump, endorsed Bouchard earlier this week.
In the neighboring 11th District, Democratic state Sen. Jeremy Moss of Bloomfield on Wednesday launched his first ad, which touted his work as a lawmaker in Lansing.
Ufford earns Arab American backing
Don Ufford, a former Ford Motor Co. engineer running against Moss for an Oakland County U.S. House seat, announced last week that he won the endorsement of Arab American PAC, a Dearborn-based political group.
The Bloomfield Township candidate has tried to differentiate himself from Moss by linking his opponent to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a pro-Israel group that has become increasingly controversial among Democrats.
Arab American PAC President Osama Siblani offered his support for Ufford in a press release.
“Don Ufford is the progressive force we need in Washington. We can count on him to stand up against Trump’s disastrous war in Iran and be an independent voice for us – free of dark money influence from AIPAC and Corporate PACs,” said Siblani, who is publisher of the Arab American News.
Moss has not directly received campaign contributions from AIPAC, though about 12% of his unique donors (70 of 604) have also given money to the pro-Israel group since the start of 2025, according to a Detroit News analysis of campaign finance records. The latest records run through March.
Moss’ donor crossover rate with AIPAC ranks second-highest among all U.S. House candidates behind Thanedar (26%). Republican U.S. Rep. Lisa McClain of Bruce Township ranks third at about 5%.
Ufford has zero crossover donors with AIPAC.
Endorsement watch
The Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC endorsed community organizer William Lawrence of Lansing in his bid to win a three-way Democratic primary in the 7th Congressional District.
Lawrence is running against former Ambassador Bridget Brink of Lansing and former U.S. Navy SEAL Matt Maasdam of Ann Arbor Township. The winner of the August primary will face Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Barrett of Charlotte in the November general election.
In the Democratic U.S. Senate primary, the Michigan Teamsters Joint Council 43, the statewide council of Teamsters, endorsed U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens this week over El-Sayed and state Sen. Mallory McMorrow. U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland endorsed El-Sayed.
On Tuesday, a day after Trump endorsed U.S. Rep. John James for governor, the Associated Builders and Contractors of Michigan jumped into the James camp.
Tweet of the Week
The Insider report’s “Tweet of the Week,” recognizing a social media post that was worthy of attention or, possibly from the previous week goes to Haley Stevens, who is amping up her use of social media to go after El-Sayed and Rogers in the hotly contested U.S. Senate race.
In one tweet this week, Stevens called out El-Sayed and Rogers in a video for seeking extensions on filing their personal financial disclosures (a right she has exercised herself in the past).
“Hey Mike! Hey Abdul! It’s June, (absentee) ballots go out tomorrow — why haven’t you submitted your personal financial disclosures yet? Michiganders want to know what you’re hiding,” Stevens wrote on June 24.
El-Sayed, not to be outdone, fired back with his own video and tweet about three hours later.
“Congresswoman Stevens shouldn’t even get to say the word ‘transparency.’ She is transparently bought by AIPAC and the corporations making your life harder,” El-Sayed wrote, referencing the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s support of Slotkin’s candidacy.
Thirty-two minutes later, Stevens took another swing across El-Sayed’s bow, posting copies of her personal finance disclosure and 2025 tax return.
“Here are my tax returns and financial disclosure. Now let’s see yours. What are you hiding?” Stevens wrote.
Both McMorrow and El-Sayed previously released redacted copies of their tax returns to The Detroit News in April in response to Stevens’ challenge.
mburke@detroitnews.com
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This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Slotkin gets sideways with other Dems over push for new leadership | Insider
Reporting by Melissa Nann Burke, Beth LeBlanc and Grant Schwab, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Melissa Nann Burke, Beth LeBlanc and Grant Schwab, The Detroit News | USA TODAY Network
