Democrat Elissa Slotkin Says Pelosi Needs to Go, Calls for 'New Leadership'

Michigan congresswoman Elissa Slotkin said Friday that regardless of whether Democrats maintain control in the House of Representatives following the midterm elections in November, it's time for new leadership at the top.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has received mixed reviews throughout her tenure as the first-ever woman in that position. Less than two months from the election, poll tracker FiveThirtyEight is giving the GOP a 74 in 100 chance of retaking the House.

The same poll tracker gives Democrats the edge, by 70 in 100, retaining their majority in the Senate.

"I have always said, I think it's time we have new leadership," Slotkin said Friday on CNN's New Day when asked about Pelosi at the helm. "I think it's time, frankly, that some Midwesterners get into leadership. We have a lot of New York and California; I'd like to see more diversity in leadership there. I have made a commitment to my district—I stick to that commitment."

Slotkin, 46, previously served three tours in Iraq as a CIA analyst and has represented Michigan's 8th Congressional District since 2019. She is up for reelection this November.

When the Democrats retained control of the House in January 2021 and a vote took place between Pelosi and Republican Kevin McCarthy for the speakership, Slotkin—along with current House Representatives Abigail Spanberger of Virginia and Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey—voted "present" during the roll call vote.

The Detroit Free Press reported that Slotkin said the same thing then about representing her district as she said Friday on CNN, and that the Midwest needs better representation at the federal level.

Pelosi remains confident in her party's ability to buck midterm trends, saying on August 31 that she has "absolutely every intention of holding the House."

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer reportedly told senators this week in a Washington, D.C., restaurant that the Democrats will lose the House and that Pelosi is "in trouble."

The chance of Democrats keeping the Senate is around 60 percent while the House majority is slimmer at a 40 percent possibility, Schumer said, according to Punchbowl News.

Other Democrats, like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, have in the past expressed a desire for the "next generation" to take over for Pelosi and Schumer in positions of leadership.

Slotkin was also asked on Friday about stock trade bans and Pelosi's hesitance to put legislation forward.

Axios reported that Pelosi first said in February that a bill could be put forward "very soon." In a media briefing on Wednesday, over seven months since expressing interest in passing such legislation, Pelosi reiterated that an "exciting" bill could be presented in the House this month.

Those comments indicate that Pelosi has changed her tune since December 2021, when Insider reported that Pelosi was fine with members of Congress trading stocks.

"We are a free-market economy," Pelosi said in 2021. "They should be able to participate in that."

"I'm glad she's come around because I couldn't disagree more with her original statements on this," Slotkin said on CNN. "And I was surprised, I guess, when she came out that strongly in the beginning. We are in a moment in our history where we need to do everything possible to restore faith in our government."

Spanberger said Monday on MSNBC's 11th Hour that "if the speaker wanted to bring [the stock trade ban] for a vote this week or this month, she certainly could."

Newsweek reached out to Slotkin for comment.