that some didn’t need. We need to inject
competition into our healthcare system
through the competition of cost of care
transparency. I will also work to restore
the funding in Medicare that was cut
in the Affordable Care Act, which our
seniors depend on.

11th District

The 11 th district includes
Birmingham, Bloomfield Hills,
Commerce Township Farmington,
Northville/Northville Township,
Novi/Novi Township, Troy, Walled
Lake and West Bloomfield, among
other communities. It is represented
by David Trott, who is not seeking
re-election.

REPUBLICAN

NAME: Lena Epstein
AGE: 37
CITY OF RESIDENCE:
Bloomfield Hills
SYNAGOGUE OR
CHURCH (if any):
Temple Beth El
Lena Epstein
PROFESSIONAL
BACKGROUND: For the
past 15 years, I have had the opportuni-
ty to oversee Vesco Oil Corporation, a
family business started by my paternal
grandfather over 72 years ago. Vesco Oil
is one of the largest women-owned busi-
nesses in Michigan and employs more
than 200 people with annual revenues
exceeding $180 million.
WHAT WOULD YOU MOST LIKE
READERS TO KNOW ABOUT YOU?
I am proud to call Michigan my home.
My family has incredibly deep roots here
in Michigan, the business community
and the Jewish community. My mater-
nal grandfather, Stanley Winkelman,
dedicated his life to many Jewish, civic
and community causes, most notably
working to improve race relations during
the 1960s and building the Winkelman
Stores that revolutionized the retail
industry and created thousands of
Michigan jobs.
I have spent my entire life in Michigan
except for the four years I studied
economics at Harvard University.
Cambridge, the Harvard student body
and my economics studies opened my
eyes to the tremendous opportunities
afforded here in the U.S.
I credit my parents and grandparents
for instilling a love and care for this
community that has such a rich history.
I have dedicated my life to the health,
growth and strength of this community
and will continue to do so once elected.

Michigan’s future is bright, and our
roots are strong. My husband, Eric, and
I want to see our daughter, Emma, grow
up in this beautiful community, and we
want to see it prosper for all families in
Michigan for generations to come.
I serve on numerous boards, including
the Detroit Jewish News Foundation,
Kadima, the Detroit Regional Chamber
of Commerce, the Detroit Historical
Society and the Community Foundation
for Southeast Michigan.
WHAT ARE YOUR TOP 3
PRIORITIES IF ELECTED?
We need to come together as a nation
to pass common sense legislation to fix
our nation’s problems.
• I will work across the aisle to pass
bipartisan legislation to lower the cost of
healthcare while improving the quality
and care we all deserve, including those
with pre-existing conditions.
• We need to continue the growth and
strength of our economy. Once elected,
I will make it my top priority to work to
lower taxes and grow our region’s GDP.
• I am a strong and unapologetic sup-
porter of the U.S. and Israel relationship
and will work tirelessly to strengthen
the relationship between our two great
nations.

DEMOCRAT

NAME: Haley Stevens
AGE: 35
CITY OF RESIDENCE:
Rochester Hills
SYNAGOGUE/
CHURCH (if any):
Kensington Church in
Haley Stevens
Troy
PROFESSIONAL
BACKGROUND: Served as chief of staff
on the Auto Task Force inside of the U.S.
Treasury Department, experienced in
economic and workforce development.
WHAT WOULD YOU MOST LIKE
READERS TO KNOW ABOUT YOU?
I’m interested in getting our gov-
ernment back to its original purpose:
serving people. We deserve an infra-
structure guarantee: good roads and safe
drinking water. Everyone deserves access
to affordable healthcare, and Congress
must address immigration reform and
preserve what America has always been:
a land of opportunity for those who play
by the rules and do the work.
Chief among my priorities are safety
and security, both here in the U.S. and
abroad, and I believe that our strong and
enduring partnership with the State of
Israel is a cornerstone of maintaining
these goals. As we celebrate Israel’s 70th
anniversary this year, we mark seven

decades of steadfast U.S.-Israel diplo-
matic relations. As the only democracy
in the Middle East and our strongest
ally in the region, Israel and its security
are paramount to our interests at home
and abroad. In Congress, I look forward
to strengthening this partnership and
exploring new ways to build upon Israel’s
and America’s symbiotic economies.
WHAT ARE YOUR TOP 3
PRIORITIES IF ELECTED?
Reducing healthcare costs, growing
our economy and improving public edu-
cation.

8th District

The 8th district includes Rochester
Hills, Clarkston, Lake Orion, Oxford,
Brighton, Independence Township,
East Lansing and Howell, among
other communities. It is represent-
ed by Mike Bishop, who is seeking
re-election.

REPUBLICAN

Mike Bishop (Incumbent)
Mike Bishop did not
return a questionnaire to
the Jewish News

Mike Bishop

DEMOCRAT

NAME: Elissa Slotkin
AGE: 42
CITY OF RESIDENCE:
Holly
SYNAGOGUE/
CHURCH (if any): My
parents belong to Temple
Elissa Slotkin
Israel, and I attended
services with them. My
grandparents attended Temple Beth El
for decades, where they have a foyer in
their name.
PROFESSIONAL BACKGROUND:
Recruited by CIA to be a Middle East
analyst and served three tours in Iraq;
worked in a number of intelligence
and national security roles at the White
House, State Department and the
Pentagon, serving under both Presidents
Bush and Obama. As acting assistant
secretary of defense for international
security affairs under President Obama,
I served as the principal adviser to the
Secretary of Defense on security pol-
icy related to the Middle East, Russia,
Europe and Africa, including principal
responsibility for the U.S.-Israel defense
relationship, where I worked on joint
investment on missile defense capa-

bilities, including the Iron Dome and
helped negotiate the largest U.S. defense
package in history for Israel.
WHAT WOULD YOU MOST LIKE
READERS TO KNOW ABOUT YOU?
I got into this race because I believe
that the current tenor of our politics is
fundamentally unbecoming of the coun-
try I served and the country we all love.
Democrats and Republicans are moving
further apart, refusing to get in a room
and get to work solving our problems
— and people are losing faith in their
government. I spent 14 years serving in
national security, and in that time, no
one ever asked me if I was a Republican
or Democrat. We were focused on the
mission, and political affiliation simply
didn’t matter. And while our team might
disagree on strategy or approach, we
worked through those issues to form the
best possible course of action. The stakes
were just too high. If elected, I will bring
this same mission-focus to Congress, as
I believe that our elected officials have a
responsibility to get in a room, find the
common ground and force compromise
in the name of progress.
WHAT ARE YOUR TOP 3
PRIORITIES IF ELECTED?
My priorities are the top issues I hear
about from folks across the 8th District
every day: healthcare, infrastructure and
the influence of money in politics.
I believe that all people deserve access
to healthcare they can afford. To address
this, I support creating a buy-in to
Medicare and allowing Medicare to buy
drugs in bulk.
On infrastructure, we need a genera-
tional investment to bring federal dollars
to our state to fix both our roads and
water infrastructure.
Finally, the influence of money in pol-
itics makes it feel as though our elected
representatives are bought and sold by
special interests, rather than working
for the people they represent. I made
the decision not to take corporate PAC
money to my campaign, as I wanted to
make it crystal clear who I was fighting
for, and this summer I released a gov-
ernment accountability and campaign
finance reform platform. ■

Compiled by Managing Editor Jackie Headapohl.

METHODOLOGY
Candidates were sent the emailed
questionnaire on Sept. 13 with a
deadline for response of Sept. 27.
Those who did not respond by Sept.
27 were sent another email that day
extending the deadline to Oct. 4.

jn

October 11 • 2018

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