Three of the most relevant and prominent Democrat politicians in Michigan — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Sen. Gary Peters, and U.S. Senate candidate Rep. Elissa Slotkin — will reportedly not be at embattled President Joe Biden’s rally in Detroit, Michigan Friday.
Their absences, which the Associated Press reported, come as Biden faces growing calls from members of his own party to step aside as the presumptive nominee and allow someone else to face former President Donald Trump in November in the aftermath of his disastrous debate performance.
“Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who is co-chair of Biden’s campaign, will be out of the state. Sen. Gary Peters, a steadfast supporter of Biden, and Rep. Elissa Slotkin, who is vying for Michigan’s open Senate seat, will also be absent from the event.” the Associated Press’s Joey Cappelletti, Zeke Miller, Seung Min Kim reported Friday.
Whitmer is, notably, one of a handful of Democrats whom pundits and commentators have discussed as a potential replacement for Biden. On Wednesday, she said that “it wouldn’t hurt” for Biden to take a cognitive test during a CNN appearance. She added that only Biden could decide to stand down as the presumptive nominee.
“We have a field, and unless one person, Joe Biden, makes an alternative decision, this is the field, and we’ve got to go,” she said.
Slotkin finds herself in a high-stakes Senate race that will either further her political career if she wins or send her packing from the U.S. Capitol building if she loses. Fears that Biden could torpedo down-ballot Democrats are rampant throughout the party. She is expected to face former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI) on the Republican ticket.
In fact, the New York Times reported Wednesday that Slotkin told donors Tuesday that internal polling showed a “dead heat” in her race and Biden behind the eight-ball with Trump in the presidential contest.
“Right now, President Biden is behind Trump in all of our polling and this Senate race is in a dead heat,” she told donors on a video call, per the Times.
“Ms. Slotkin also appeared to take a shot at Mr. Biden during the call by sarcastically noting that she was running for the seat only because Senator Debbie Stabenow, 74, was ‘doing a radical thing and passing the torch,’” per the Times.
On Thursday, the Cook Political Report moved the Senate race to “toss-up” status from “lean Democrat.”
As for Democrat Senatorial Campaign Committee Chairman Peters, on Wednesday, he shared his belief that “President Biden can win” the election, the Detroit News reported.
“And I believe that we’ll be able to hold the Senate majority, and I think we also have a good shot of expanding it,” he added, despite the map being highly favorable for Republicans and grim for Democrats this cycle.
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