U.S. Senate candidate Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) reportedly fears losing her senate campaign with President Joe Biden atop the Democrats’ 2024 ticket.
Slotkin’s worry underscores the belief of many Democrats who say Biden is not the best presidential candidate to energize the base for down-ticket Democrat candidates.
“Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), who is running for the state’s open Senate seat, has expressed concern to allies that she may not be able to win her race if Biden is at the top of the ticket,” people familiar with conversations told the Washington Post.
On the record, however, Slotkin’s spokesman told the Post that she “looks forward to running with President Biden.”
U.S. President Joe Biden shakes hands with Representative Elissa Slotkin, a Democrat from Michigan, after signing S. 3522, the “Ukraine Democracy Defense Lend-Lease Act of 2022,” in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Monday, May 9, 2022 (Yuri Gripas/Abaca/Bloomberg).
Slotkin is among a host of Democrats who seek to retain their seats or defeat a Republican opponent for an open seat. The Senate map appears to favor Republicans in 2024:
- 34 seats are up for reelection.
- 23 seats of the 34 are held by Democrats or independents who vote with Democrats.
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Republicans only need to flip two seats to control the Senate.
The House appears to be a toss-up between the two parties. Republicans only control the House by a couple of seats and must maintain or expand their majority to retain control. Several factors will impact the House races:
- Democrats prevailed in redistricting lawsuits.
- Kevin McCarthy’s ouster as speaker is likely to impact GOP fundraising.
- Soaring prices is the number one issue for voters.
- Joe Biden is the least popular president in modern history, polling shows.
- Abortion and the Biden impeachment inquiry could motivate grassroots.
Democrats are aware of their tenuous position with Biden as the lead Democrat on the ticket. A recent Wall Street Journal poll caused David Axelrod to deliver a stern warning to Joe Biden about his sinking approval rating, as the survey found that just 23 percent of voters said policies personally benefited them, while 49 percent said the same of Trump.
“You know, job approval down, ratings generally down, most of the comparatives with Trump … not good,” Axelrod said on the podcast Hacks on Tap.
“You know what I worry about … from a Biden standpoint is there are the kinds of things you get when people are starting to rationalize their votes — ‘Oh, look. They’re ready to fire Biden. That’s a problem,’” Axelrod continued. “And they just put out another photo op with the Bidenomics sign next to him. … It’s just unbelievable to me.”
Follow Wendell Husebø on “X” @WendellHusebø. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality.