GOP state senator announces potential challenge to Slotkin in Michigan

Michigan state Sen. Tom Barrett (R) has announced he’ll run for Congress in 2022, potentially setting up a high-profile race against Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D). 

Barrett, a 20-year Army veteran, made his announcement in a video posted to Facebook Monday morning.

In the video, Barrett speaks out against President Biden’s COVID-19 vaccination mandate for military members, saying every soldier has the “freedom to make that choice for themselves.” He also slams Biden for the U.S. withdrawal from Afghan and an attack at the Kabul airport that killed 13 U.S. troops. 

“My next deployment is Washington, D.C.,” Barrett said in the campaign video. 

“I am running to put an end to this invasion of our constitutional rights,” Barrett added. “To stand up for those afraid of losing their career or struggling to put food on the table in Biden’s economy.”

Barrett, who has served overseas in Iraq, Kuwait, Guantánamo Bay and South Korea, was elected to the state senate in 2018 after serving two terms in the state House, according to Detroit News.

His announcement comes as Slotkin, who has served two terms in the House, is expected to run for reelection, according to the Lansing State Journal. 

The Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission is still finalizing district lines for the next decade.

Slotkin is a former CIA officer who served under the Bush and Obama administrations in the intelligence and defense posts.

In a statement, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spokesperson Elena Kuhn denounced Barrett’s candidacy, the newspaper noted. 

“Tom Barrett’s record represents the worst of partisan politics,” Kuhn said. “Instead of coming together and working to find common-sense solutions for Michigan, time and again Barrett chose to bolster his partisan credentials and stand up for his special interest backers while hard-working families paid the price.”