It's a congressional race that political pundits and prognosticators are watching closely, and it just so happens to be in our backyard.
Michigan's 8th Congressional District represents Livingston and Ingham Counties, as well as parts of Oakland County. Democratic candidate Elissa Slotkin is challenging the incumbent, Representative Mike Bishop (R), who is running for his third term.
Slotkin held national security and defense roles in both the Obama and Bush administrations, including three tours in Iraq. She joined Stateside to talk about her priorities for the 8th District.
We also reached out to Slotkin's opponent, Republican Congressman Mike Bishop, who declined our request for an interview.
Campaign finance is one of the top issues that Slotkin intends to work on if elected to office. She says that she wants to reform campaign spending and increase the standard of transparency for donations made to any political entity.
"Right now, if someone wants to give me $15, they need to tell me their name, their address, and their occupation. But if you want to give $15 million to a political super PAC to run negative ads, you don't have to tell anyone, you know, your name or what you do or why you're doing it," Slotkin said. "And I just think that makes zero sense. So transparency across all donors for all kinds of political things. I'd love to see some limits on how much can be spent — that would be nice."
Listen above to learn more about what prompted Slotkin to run for office, and what she sees as a divide in the Democratic Party between "establishment" candidates and more progressive leaders.
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