ANALYSIS — A handful of Democratic women with national security and military backgrounds rose to power during President Donald Trump’s first term and now they’re back in the spotlight in the early days of his second term.
Democrats are leveraging them to gain back some ground after a disappointing 2024, just like they did after Trump’s surprise victory in 2016.
Among those national security Democrats is Michigan’s Elissa Slotkin, who was first elected to the House in 2018 after defeating GOP Rep. Mike Bishop in a competitive district outside Detroit. The former CIA analyst was the first Democrat in nearly two decades to represent the seat. Slotkin was elected to the Senate last cycle, edging out former GOP Rep. Mike Rogers to keep Sen. Debbie Stabenow’s seat in Democratic hands.