Former CIA Analyst Defeats Former FBI Agent to Win High-Stakes Michigan Senate Race

Anna Lazarus Caplan

6 November 2024 at 3:30 pm·2-min read

The tight race between two national security experts was identified as a must-win for Democrats, who handily lost their Senate majority in the 2024 elections

MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty; Eva Marie Uzcategui/Bloomberg via Getty

Democratic Rep. Elissa Slotkin defeated former Republican Rep. Mike Rogers in Michigan's closely watched Senate race on Wednesday, Nov. 6, according to The Associated Press, delivering Democrats a high-stakes win and preventing the seat from flipping red.

Democrats lost considerable ground on the Senate map on election night, as GOP candidates outperformed what many predicted. Heading into the week, polls warned of a close Michigan race but signaled that Slotkin had the slight upper hand, with FiveThirtyEight's final polling average showing her up by 3.6 points.

Though Donald Trump ultimately won the state of Michigan over Kamala Harris, Slotkin clung to her narrow lead to secure a noteworthy victory that will minimize Republicans' advantage when they regain control of the Senate in January.

Brandon Bell/Getty Michigan Senator-elect Elissa Slotkin — Brandon Bell/Getty
Michigan Senator-elect Elissa Slotkin

Slotkin, 48, is a former CIA analyst and Department of Defense official who has served as U.S. representative for Michigan's 7th congressional district since 2019. She ran a campaign that focused on themes of bipartisanship and protecting the Constitution, according to Fox affiliate WXMI-TV.

In the waning days of the campaign, Slotkin, who is known as a moderate to conservative Democrat, earned the endorsement of longtime Republican and former Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney.

"People are looking for a light through the tunnel, how to get back to the positive and the normal world that we're used to in politics, where you can have Democrats and Republicans debating issues but it's not nasty and vitriolic," Slotkin told the station. "So I was proud to have her endorsement in 2022, I'm proud to have it now, and I'll scream it from the rafters."

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Rogers, 61, is a former FBI agent who served in the House from 2001 until 2015. He returned to politics this year to seek the Senate seat that Democrat Debbie Stabenow has held for nearly 24 years.

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