(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . MI-Sen: The New Republic, "The Democrat Who’s Betting Her Senate Bid on Gun Control" [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-04-11 Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D. MI-07) With the latest news of gun violence coming out of Nashville and Louisville, the call for real gun control continues to fall on deaf ears due to a predominantly GOP congress bought and paid for by the NRA and the gun lobby. Years ago, campaigning on gun control wasn’t a safe campaign bet, especially in the red and swing states like Michigan. But now, it’s safe to say that being an advocate for real gun control is a winning issue. The New Republic has a piece about how Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D. MI-07) is planning to make it a key issue in her campaign for the U.S. Senate: Mid-February was supposed to mark a new chapter in the career of Representative Elissa Slotkin of Michigan. A three-term Democratic congresswoman and foreign policy veteran, Slotkin had been primed to kick off a long-rumored campaign for the Senate seat being vacated by Debbie Stabenow—and assume front-runner status for a seat Democrats desperately need to retain in 2024. Instead, she found herself at a podium on Michigan State University’s campus in East Lansing—the site of a shooting that had just taken the lives of three MSU students—not to announce her candidacy, but to voice her fury over another mass shooting in her district. “As the representative of Oxford, Michigan, I cannot believe I’m here doing this again 15 months later,” said Slotkin, flanked by Governor Gretchen Whitmer and law enforcement and university personnel. “And I am filled with rage that we have another press conference to talk about children being killed in our schools. And I would say that you either care about protecting kids or you don’t.” Oxford, of course, was the site of the November 2021 high school shooting by a student that left four other students dead and almost twice that many injured. At that time, there were vigils and funerals; this time, “I was just furious,” Slotkin said in an interview a week later. Indeed, three days after the shooting, her campaign email began with the jarring subject line, “I’m filled with rage.” Previously, those emails—which Slotkin writes or edits herself—were used for fundraising. Now, they laid out details of the Safe Guns, Safe Kids Act, legislation Slotkin had proposed in the last Congress and has since revived. Among its provisions is a requirement that guns be safely stored if a minor could conceivably access them. “I’m trying to mobilize different allies to change the conversation,” she noted, aiming to appeal to Republican voters in her district—hunters, marksmen—to lobby lawmakers at the federal level. Slotkin had planned to run on her national security bona fides and a willingness to reach across the aisle; now, it was clear, she had another kind of security on her mind. Give the full piece a read when you get a chance. Yes, I am well aware that we also have a Supreme Court that will happily kill any sort of gun control legislation that would pass the Senate, House and White House but it’s still important to get more strong advocates like Slotkin in the Senate. The day may come where we can change the Supreme Court or pass something that would make it hard for SCOTUS to undo and we need to make sure we have Slotkin in the Senate for when that day comes. Slotkin’s campaign is already off to a strong start: Michigan Democratic U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin of Lansing raised $3 million for her U.S. Senate bid during the first fundraising quarter, her campaign said Tuesday. That figure covers about a month's worth of fundraising, from her campaign launch Feb. 27 through the end of March. The $3 million included donations from 80 of Michigan's 83 counties, and 89% of donations were $100 or less, spokesman Austin Cook said. "Lots of people talk about a people-powered campaign, but this is the way to demonstrate that — by people like you stepping up and making it happen," Slotkin wrote in an email Tuesday, thanking her supporters. "These are the kinds of indicators that show to both our potential competitors and our friends that we are building a formidable campaign to keep this seat blue in the Senate." Health, democracy and safety are all on the ballot in 2024 and we need to be ready to keep this Senate seat Blue. Click here to donate and get involved with Slotkin’s campaign. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/4/11/2163319/-MI-Sen-The-New-Republic-The-Democrat-Who-s-Betting-Her-Senate-Bid-on-Gun-Control Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/