Incoming Senate Dem Elissa Slotkin torches identity politics in 2024 autopsy: 'Go the way of the dodo'

Sen.-elect Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., said Democrats need to ditch identity politics if they want to win over voters in future elections, telling reporters the ideology needed to “go the way of the dodo.”

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Democrats who won Senate races in the 2024 elections held a briefing for reporters at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) on Tuesday, during which they explained how they managed to get elected despite President-elect Trump winning in their state. 

According to Slotkin, who represents a swing district in the House of Representatives that she initially flipped from red to blue, identity politics is not a winning strategy in a state like Michigan. 

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She defeated Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers in what was considered a “toss-up” race in the presidential battleground state. 

Slotkin further attributed her win to focusing on the economy, or “kitchen table” issues. However, she said it isn’t enough just to focus on those issues, but to talk about them plainly. 

Sens. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis.; Jacky Rosen, D-Nev.; DSCC Chair Gary Peters, D-Mich.; and Sen.-elect Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., were also at the briefing.  

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Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., chaired the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee during the 2024 election cycle. (Reuters/Mike Segar)

For Schumer, the victories Democrats saw could be boiled down to three things: good candidate quality, economic accomplishments in the Senate that affected each of their states and early strategic television ad investments. 

He also pointed to high digital ad spending in the rapidly changing media landscape that he believes helped push them over the edge. 

As for the Senate race in Pennsylvania, Schumer noted that DSCC staff will still be on the ground working in the state, where Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., allowed an automatic recount to be triggered by refusing to concede, despite Sen.-elect Dave McCormick’s lead. 

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Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., detailed his thoughts on Democratic successes in swing states. (Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)

When asked what went wrong in Pennsylvania, where Casey did not run significantly ahead of Democrat presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, Schumer just said that a recount was still going on in the state. 

Other Democrats in swing states and Republican states managed to run ahead of Harris by substantial margins, leading to some of the wins they saw in Trump-won states. 

One of those successful Democrats, Gallego, gave some insight to reporters about why he defeated Republican Senate candidate Kari Lake. He pointed to the voting group of male and Latino voters, who he saw early progress with in polls. He pointed to specific cultural messaging to this demographic through boxing match watch parties and rodeos. 

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Sen.-elect Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz. (Getty Images)

Additionally, he hit Lake for discussing the border crisis in the way that someone outside of Arizona and unfamiliar with the dynamic might talk about it. Gallego said Lake’s talk of shutting down the border sounded like someone from the East Coast. 

According to him, Arizona can’t fully shut down its border because its economy relies on travel and transportation of goods between the state and Mexico.