How Impeachment Will Affect Michigan’s 2020 Congressional Elections
Elissa Slotkin, Haley Stevens and Justin Amash test the politics of impeachment
The President’s first stop after being impeached was Battle Creek, MI for a planned rally.
Rep. Elissa Slotkin’s town hall on Monday announcing her impeachment decision drew massive interest from national press. It is safe to say Michigan seems to be at the epicenter of impeachment politics.
Slotkin along with Rep. Haley Stevens represent the 2018 blue wave, flipping Michigan districts from red to blue. These two moderates are now in a precarious position, voting with fellow Democrats to impeach the president, a risky decision in divided districts.
Will impeachment cost these congresswomen a second term?
Matt Resch, president of political PR firm Resch Strategies, joins Detroit Today with Stephen Henderson to talk about the role impeachment may play in upcoming Michigan congressional elections.
“I think they are probably going to have a tough go,” says Resch of Rep. Stevens and Rep. Slotkin’s road to re-election in 2020.
He says he was especially surprised by the vocal opposition present at Rep. Slotkin’s town hall. Resch lives and works in Slotkin’s district and says she has done a lot to build good will in the community and thinks she is quite popular among constituents.
Despite feeling Slotkin has positioned herself well with voters, Resch still thinks both her and Steven’s races will come down to the Democrat at top of the ticket. He says it is imperative for them to have a Democratic presidential candidate that voters are enthusiastic about, and in red-to-purple districts Resch believes that means a more moderate candidate.
Former Republican, now Independent, Michigan Representative Justin Amash also made waves during the impeachment vote on Wednesday night, voting with Democrats in favor of impeachment. Resch thinks this vote did not help an already challenging path forward for Amash.
“A third party candidate, no matter who it is, is always tough,” says Resch. While Resch says this vote will garner admiration among Democratic voters, they probably won’t carry that reverence with them to the ballot box over a Democratic candidate. It is simply a numbers game at this point, says Resch, and the numbers are not in Amash’s favor.
