U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-Lansing), a 2024 U.S. Senate candidate, is scheduled on Monday to unveil her “‘opportunity agenda,” a platform that lays out her priorities to help eliminate barriers to economic opportunities in Michigan’s urban communities, the Michigan Advance has learned. 

Slotkin will unveil the agenda in remarks before a group of business, faith and community leaders and elected officials in Detroit, followed by a community conversation. Her policy proposals are the result of dozens of meetings and events with leaders from communities of color across Michigan over the last year. The effort, according to her campaign, was developed in close collaboration with many of those community leaders. 

Slotkin is facing off against actor Hill Harper of Detroit and businessman Nasser Beydoun for the Democratic nomination in August. The seat is currently held by U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Lansing), who announced that she is retiring after her term ends in 2024. 

“In a multi-racial, multi-ethnic country like ours, it’s essential that Americans always have a path to get into the middle class, especially in a place like Michigan,” said Slotkin. “That path has narrowed in recent years, especially for communities of color. After a year of listening to communities across Michigan, we drafted an Opportunity Agenda, which lays out specific things I’d focus on if elected to the U.S. Senate. The Opportunity Agenda was meant to directly answer the question: if elected, what specifically will you do for communities of color in Michigan? I’m grateful to the many community leaders in Detroit and across Michigan who helped craft this plan and provided feedback, and I know that leaders and constituents will use it to hold me accountable to these priorities starting on day one.”

Former Detroit Mayor Dave Bing praised Slotkin. 

“Today’s announcement is another demonstration of why she’ll be a terrific Senator for communities across our state, including and especially those that continue to be overlooked and held back by systemic racism and a lack of opportunity,” Bing said. 

Slotkin has emphasized that in Congress, she has secured over $38 million in direct federal dollars to fund important community projects on issues like gun violence prevention, safe and transparent policing, affordable and accessible childcare, and community health. 

These include: $1.3 million to support the Lansing Police Department’s hiring of social workers; $400,000 to fund a Lansing Community College Mobile Healthcare Unit; $2.5 million to support a community health center for medically underserved communities in Ingham County; $500,000 for gun violence prevention initiatives in Ingham County; and $2.1 million for a Michigan State University childcare center.

A slew of Republicans are also seeking the open U.S. Senate seat: former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers (R-White Lake); former U.S. Rep. Justin Amash (L-Cascade Twp.); former U.S. Rep. Peter Meijer (R-Grand Rapids); Detroit-area businessman Sandy Pensler; Board of Education member Nikki Snyder; Alexandria Taylor, an attorney who has previously represented former Michigan GOP Chair Kristina Karamo; Sherry O’Donnell, a former 2022 congressional candidate and Michigan state chair for U.S. Term Limits; conservative businessman J.D. Wilson; Sharon Savage, an educator who worked for the Warren Consolidated School District for 42 years; Ottawa County Commissioner Rebekah Curran; Sault Ste. Marie physician Bensson Samuel; entrepreneur Glenn Wilson, and Michael Hoover, who previously worked for Dow Chemical Co.