22 April 4 • 2019
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effort from Martin Brook, a Birmingham attorney 
who is the nephew of former Gov. James Blanchard. 
In an odd twist, all the Democratic candidates live in 
Oakland County, though two-thirds of the voters are in 
Macomb.
Levin made a misstep or two, as when he said that 
Lipton had been “in a safe seat in the legislature for a 
few terms or whatever,
” which was angrily criticized by 
some women.
“
Andy is going to be a superb congressman, but he 
didn’
t run a superb campaign,
” a longtime friend said, 
expressing a common sentiment. While the younger 
Levin does have a track record of getting things done, 
he can come across as arrogant; in his only previous 
foray into elected politics, he lost a race for the state 
senate in 2006, in what was an otherwise Democratic 
year.
No one, however, seems to doubt his ability. “He’
s a 
wise intentional bulldog, often for the voiceless,
” said 
Laura Kohn, a longtime therapist from Huntington 
Woods. “How lucky we are to have Andy in Congress 
and in world.
” 
In the end, Levin won his the primary easily, 52 per-
cent to 42 for Lipton. He lost Oakland County by 459 
votes but carried Macomb by a landslide.
The November election was an anticlimax; the 

district is solidly Democratic, and Levin buried 
Republican businesswoman Candius Stearns, winning 
almost 60 percent. Still, there were some disgruntled 
murmurs about hereditary politicians, and two obscure 
left-wing candidates got a surprising 11,000 votes 
between them.

ELISSA SLOTKIN 
Elissa Slotkin never saw herself as a political giant 
killer — and neither did almost anyone else. Had 
Congressman Mike Bishop been told a couple years 
ago that his next re-election battle would be against 
a young Jewish CIA analyst who had been living out 
of state for years, he probably wouldn’
t have been too 
worried.
But then came last year, and energized Democrats, 
enraged in part by Bishop’
s opposition to the 
Affordable Care Act, flooded the Eighth District with 
attention — and cash.
The race became one of the most expensive in the 
nation; more than $16.4 million in total, with about $9 
million of that spent by the Democrats and their allies. 
In the end, it was Slotkin 172,880 to 159,752 for the 
incumbent congressman.
“This is what happens when you set a goal and stay 
focused; you believe in this country and that people 
love it more than anything else in the world,
” she said 
the night she ran.
Slotkin, now 42, is best known for her service with 
the CIA in Iraq (she was motivated to volunteer by 
the September 2001 attacks.) She rose to become act-
ing assistant secretary of defense for national security 
affairs in the Obama administration.
After she was elected, she was given a seat, as you 
might expect, on the House Committee on Armed 
Services, and its subcommittee on intelligence, and on 
Homeland Security.
But as Slotkin has often said, she was motivated to 
run for Congress by the need to ensure health care for 
all and by her predecessor’
s vote to kill the Affordable 
Care Act.
Though you might expect someone with her back-
ground to spend all her time in Washington, Slotkin 

and her husband, retired Apache helicopter pilot Dave 
Moore, insist that the Holly farm where she grew up 
is her principal home. (Her parents were members of 
Temple Israel; her grandparents, Temple Beth-El.)
She’
s also frequently held weekend meetings with 
constituents, including a recent session in Clarkston 
where she explained an amendment she had added to 
the campaign finance reform “For the People Act” that 
passed the House March 8.
Slotkin’
s amendment, among other things, is 
designed to prevent foreign entities from buying TV 
and digital ads in U.S. elections. Though the bill is 
unlikely to pass in the Republican-controlled U.S. 
Senate, retired advertising executive Bill Haney has 
been deeply impressed by his new congresswoman.
“Elissa Slotkin has accomplished more in two 
months than her predecessor did in his barren (four-
year) tenure,
” he said.

THE FUTURE
What nobody knows, however, is what the future holds 
for either new representative. Levin currently has a safe 
Democratic seat and should have no problems winning 
re-election in 2020.
Slotkin, however, was an upset winner in a seat 
drawn to favor Republicans. Will the GOP spend mil-
lions in an effort to take it back next year … or will 
they wait until after redistricting?
Redistricting is, in fact, the biggest unknown. 
Michigan’
s boundaries for the 2022 election and 
beyond will be drawn for the first time by a citizens’
 
panel of four Republicans, four Democrats and five 
independents. Some seats, like Andy Levin’
s, are likely 
to be made more competitive. Additionally, Michigan 
will lose another seat in Congress because of popula-
tion shifts.
Either Slotkin or Levin — or both — could end up 
having to compete with a fellow Democratic incum-
bent in a primary.
Politics is a game of uncertainty. But for now, both 
new congresspeople are working hard to try and do 
a good job — and to persuade a shifting electorate to 
keep hiring them. ■

continued from page 20

KUMBAYA? LEVIN, TLAIB AMONG THOSE
MEETING TO BUILD MUSLIM-JEWISH
RELATIONS IN CONGRESS
Michigan Reps. Andy Levin and Rashida Tlaib, 
whose districts cover portions of Detroit and its 
metropolitan area, were among a small group of 
Jewish and Muslim Democrats who convened to 
address accusations of anti-Semitism against fellow 
Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar prior to the House vot-
ing overwhelmingly on March 7 to condemn expres-
sions of various forms of hate.
According to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) 
and reports March 17 in the Washington Post, two 
Jewish Democrats, Levin and Rep. Jamie Raskin 
of Maryland, arranged a series of meetings prior to 
the vote that included all three Muslim members 
of the House: Tlaib, Omar and Rep. Andre Carson 
of Indiana. Bend the Arc, a liberal Jewish activist 
group, facilitated the meetings.
Those who attended the meetings have since 
informally convened on the House floor, according to 
the JTA report, and more meetings are planned.

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