On Monday, Elissa Slotkin had no challengers for her seat in Congress. Now the freshman Democrat has two.

On Tuesday, Nikki Snyder, a member of the state Board of Education, and Mike Detmer, a Real Estate agent from Howell, announced plans to run for the Republican nomination to face off against the 8th District Democrat in 2020.

Snyder, a 35-year-old Dexter resident, is a registered nurse and mother of three. She said although she currently lives outside the boundaries of the 8th Congressional District, she told The Detroit Free Press that she moved there from nearby Hamburg Township, which is in the district, less than two years ago and would “probably move back if elected.” While it is legal to run for a congressional seat without living in the district boundaries, it is often used by rival campaigns as a negative. Snyder was elected in 2016 to an eight-year term on the state Board of Education, receiving 1.9 million votes statewide, the second most of any candidate running.

Snyder told The Free Press that while Slotkin’s recent stance in favor of an impeachment inquiry against President Trump didn’t motivate her to run, she doesn’t believe the President committed an impeachable offense in his July phone call to the President of Ukraine to investigate Democratic rival and former Vice President Joe Biden. "There's nothing in the transcript that would compel me to support impeachment," Snyder told the Free Press. "I'm not OK with (asking foreign leaders to investigate political rivals), but I think world leaders need to root out corruption."

Snyder says growing government debt is her main concern, although she supported the 2017 federal tax cut that many economists say has added to the deficit. “It is wrong of us to kick the can down the road and run our government on a credit card that our children have to pay off. I wouldn’t do that in my household and I will not do that in Congress.”

As for Detmer, who since January of this year has been campaigning for State Representative in Michigan’s 47th State House District, he said that over the past 10 months his campaign has, “rolled out an aggressive platform of common sense ideas to strengthen Michigan along with a level of accessibility that is unheard of in politics today.  This approach has resonated with the people because this is about the people!  It has become clear that our mission of common sense ideas, accessibility and energy will be better utilized in a much bigger arena to do the most good for the people of Michigan and the people of the United States.”
 
Ronna McDaniel, the Chairwoman of the Republican National Committee, says they have already raised $500,000 to back Slotkin’s opponent, based mostly on her support for an impeachment inquiry. Meanwhile, Slotkin said on Tuesday her campaign had raised more than $800,000 during the three-month period that ended Monday, for a total of over $2.1 million since launching her re-election campaign, none of it from corporate political action committees.

In reaction to Tuesday’s announcements, a Slotkin spokesperson said that, “Rep. Slotkin has put country before party throughout her life of service, first in Iraq with the CIA, serving under both President Bush and President Obama, and now in Congress. Slotkin will continue to be an independent voice for Michiganders in Congress. The Congresswoman looks forward to a positive campaign, with a healthy debate on the issues.” (JK)