U.S. Senator Elissa Slotkin Endorses Matt Maasdam for Congress

Last Democrat to Win Michigan's 7th District Backs Maasdam as Candidate Best Positioned to Defeat Tom Barrett and Help Democrats Flip the House

Courtesy Photo: U.S. Senator Elissa Slotkin (left) and Democratic congressional candidate Matt Maasdam pose together during a campaign event. Slotkin announced her endorsement of Maasdam in Michigan’s 7th Congressional District race, calling him the Democrat best positioned to defeat incumbent Congressman Tom Barrett in November.

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BRIGHTON, Mich. — U.S. Senator Elissa Slotkin, the last Democrat to represent Michigan's 7th Congressional District and the only Democrat to win the seat since 1998, today announced her endorsement of Matt Maasdam for Congress, backing the retired Navy SEAL as the Democrat best positioned to defeat Republican Congressman Tom Barrett this November.

Slotkin's endorsement comes as Democrats view Michigan's 7th District as one of the nation's premier battlegrounds and one of the most critical races in the fight to win back the House majority and restore a check on President Donald Trump.

In 2024, Michigan's 7th District voted for Donald Trump for president and Tom Barrett for Congress, while simultaneously electing Slotkin to the U.S. Senate, underscoring her unique ability to build the coalition necessary to win one of the toughest swing districts in America. Slotkin flipped a similar version of the longtime Republican-held seat in 2018 and kept winning in difficult cycles, including in 2020, Slotkin was one of seven U.S. Representatives to win a seat on the same ballot as President Trump.

"Today I am endorsing Matt Maasdam to be the next Congressman from mid-Michigan and represent Michigan's seventh congressional district. Mid-Michigan is where it all began for me, representing this district – from Charlotte, to Lansing, to Owosso, to Brighton, to South Lyon – in the U.S. House for six years,”said Senator Slotkin. “Matt has spent his life serving our country as a Navy SEAL and in the White House for President Obama. When he retired from the military, he chose to move back to Michigan to raise his family. Matt could have chosen lots of other paths, but he believes that service to the people of Michigan is the most important path he can take. We need fighters, and whether it is standing up to President Trump's attacks on our democracy, taking on the corruption and special interests, or standing up for working people -- he knows what it means to fight. I look forward to working alongside Matt to win the primary election in August, and then flip this seat in November to re-take the House majority.”

A retired Navy SEAL who spent 20 years defending the Constitution, including as a White House Military Aide carrying the nuclear codes for President Barack Obama, Maasdam has centered his campaign on three fights: defending the Constitution, standing up for working people, and rooting out corruption. He has pledged to reject corporate PAC money, ban Members of Congress from trading stocks, get dark money out of politics, and fight to lower costs for Michigan families instead of giving more tax breaks to billionaires and corporations.

“I am incredibly honored to have the support of Senator Slotkin, a singular leader who has shown Democrats in mid-Michigan and across the country how to take on tough fights and win. She never sits back when the stakes are high, and we are lucky to have her fighting for Michigan every day,”said Matt Maasdam. “No one understands this district, its voters, or what it takes to win here better than Senator Slotkin. I’m grateful for her trust in me, and I’m ready to follow her example: fight for every vote, defeat Tom Barrett, flip this seat, and help take back the House so we can put a check on Donald Trump.”

Slotkin represented Michigan's 7th Congressional District for three terms before winning election to the United States Senate in 2024. She remains the only Democrat to have won the district's congressional seat since Debbie Stabenow was re-elected in 1998.

The endorsement comes as Maasdam continues to build momentum in the race, earning broad support from labor organizations, veterans, and community leaders across mid-Michigan.

Maasdam has earned the most labor union endorsements in the race, including the Michigan Pipe Trades Association, IBEW Michigan, the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers, IBEW Local 665, Teamsters Local 243, Bricklayers & Allied Craftworkers Local 2, International Union of Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT) District Council 1M, and the Michigan Professional Fire Fighters Union.

Maasdam has also been endorsed by the Detroit News, VoteVets, New Politics, The Bench, Defend the Vote, End Citizens United, former Congressman Mark Schauer, Congressman Pat Ryan, and local leaders across the district, including Lansing City Councilman Jeremy Garza, Meridian Township Supervisor Scott Hendrickson, Meridian Township Trustee Marna Wilson, Delta Township Supervisor Fonda Brewer, Delta Township Clerk Mary Clark, retired Eaton County Treasurer Bob Robinson, retired East Lansing Clerk Marie Wicks, local Democratic activist Susan Anderson, and former Ingham County Health Official Linda Vail.