In Michigan’s newly reconfigured 7th Congressional District, Democratic Rep. Elissa Slotkin collected more than $1.3 million during the first quarter.
She easily outraised her expected Republican opponent, Tom Barrett, in the first quarter.
Slotkin, who was first elected to the House in 2018, is prepared for a struggle in a new swing district that, as designed, favors Republicans significantly.
However, the lawmaker is optimistic about her chances in the coming election poised to be a rebuke to President Joe Biden.
The Expectations
Slotkin’s campaign noted in a statement initially shared with the Washington Examiner that 89 percent of the $1.3 million raised came from grassroots individuals.
These individuals donated $100 or less, with zero percent originating from corporate political action groups.
Elissa Slotkin(D) Mi -8;
“ Earlier this month I introduced the stop Russian Gold Act, a bipartisan bill to stop Russia’s Central Bank from using its gold reserves from financing Putins war against Ukraine. Good to see the President tightening the screws “#wtpBLUE#ONEV1#Fresh pic.twitter.com/JUjTNNitHt
— Robert Dunn🚴🏽🎼🎱🦅🎾 (@alifeofinsanity) March 30, 2022
Slotkin’s first-quarter fundraising totally surpassed that of Barrett, a state senator projected to win the August 2 primary.
The Republican raised $458,000 in January, February, and March. He said Monday that he raised more than $750,000 in the last four and a half months from more than 12,500 individuals, with an average gift of $60.
“I’m thrilled by the amount of support our campaign has received,” Barrett, a state senator, said. However, the Barrett campaign is not as pleased with the candidate’s first-quarter figures.
Ron Kendall, who is Barrett’s congressional chief of staff stated this during a Republican event in Eaton County in February that the campaign’s objective for the first quarter was to raise $1 million.
“We announced soon before Thanksgiving,” Kendall says in a tape recording obtained by the Washington Examiner from a Democratic insider.
“We shackled him to a table and had him on the telephone, and he raised, you know, 310 grand.”
“He is currently seeking additional funds; our objective is to raise a million dollars by March. This is no small undertaking, but we are well aware that it will be a costly one.”
“Barrett’s legislative chief of staff, Ron Kendall, said in remarks caught on tape that the campaign’s goal was to raise $1 million … clearly, Barrett fell short.”
Q1 for @ElissaSlotkin:
0️⃣ Corporate PAC $
💸 $1.3M raised
🏦 $5.5M COHWelcome to the NFL, @barrettbrigade1. https://t.co/CrWMHCARAT
— Austin Cook (@austinrmcook) April 13, 2022
Barrett fell short.
Progress Nonetheless
Nonetheless, Barrett’s senior adviser, Republican strategist Jason Roe, said the candidate was thrilled with how well he raised money in the first quarter, and is on track to win the November election.
Furthermore, he added somewhat jokingly, that Barrett’s financing ran “headlong” into a Biden economy riddled by rampant inflation.
This has reduced the amount of “disposable income” accessible for campaign funding from grassroots Republican politicians and other people who support replacing the incumbent lawmaker.
Slotkin is a tenacious campaigner and a prolific fundraiser, ready to ride a financial edge over Barrett to November’s Election Day. However, the Democratic incumbent is precarious.
Slotkin defeated a Republican incumbent in a Republican-leaning district in 2018 as voters expressed their anger with then-President Trump in a Democratic surge in midterm elections.
Four years later, people are dissatisfied with Trump’s successor. Polling indicates that a red wave might sweep Democrats out of control in Congress. Republicans need to gain five seats in the House to recover their lost control in 2018.
The massive new 7th Congressional District runs from the state capital of Lansing, a Democrat bastion, north to Flint and the “thumb” of Michigan, a Republican enclave in recent decades.
