Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Rep. Elissa Slotkin is running a new campaign advertisement in which she boasts about owning a gas-powered vehicle and says she opposes electric vehicle mandates. Slotkin, however, voted in favor of federal EV requirements just days before releasing the ad.
"I live on a dirt road, nowhere near a charging station. So, I don't own an electric car," Slotkin narrates in the ad. "No one should tell us what to buy, and no one is going to mandate anything. But here's the thing, if there's going to be a new generation of vehicles, I want that new generation built right here in Michigan, not China. I approve this message, because what you drive is your call, no one else's."
The ad—which started airing Wednesday in Detroit, Grand Rapids, and Flint—is a departure from Slotkin's own voting history in the House, where she has repeatedly voted with her progressive partymates in favor of policies pushing EVs. And it comes amid the tight race for Michigan's open Senate seat, which has seen Slotkin and her Republican opponent, Rep. Mike Rogers, spar over EVs.
On Sept. 20, the congresswoman voted against a resolution authored by fellow Michigan Rep. John James (R.) that would overturn the Biden-Harris administration's environmental regulations requiring more EV sales. Those rules, finalized earlier this year by the EPA, are expected to force 56 percent of light-duty car sales to be battery electric and another 13 percent to be hybrid electric by 2032 thanks to strict emissions standards.
The resolution passed the House in a vote of 215-191, with eight Democrats voting in favor. Those Democrats are all locked in tight reelection races.
Fifty-seven percent of Michigan voters said they would oppose an electric vehicle mandate, according to a poll released Tuesday. EVs have a market share of just 4.7 percent in Michigan, a lower share than 30 other states, industry data released this week shows.
In December, meanwhile, Slotkin voted against the Choice in Automobile Retail Sales Act, which five Democrats voted in favor of. That legislation, introduced by another Michigan congressman, Republican Tim Walberg, would prohibit the federal government from issuing any rule mandating electric vehicles.
"Instead of tying the hands of American car manufacturers and forcing families to purchase vehicles not conducive to their lifestyle and pricing many families out of the market, we should encourage consumer choice," Walberg said after the vote.
Slotkin's recent ad decrying mandates and advocating for consumer choice echoes that message.
In September 2023, Slotkin voted against the Preserving Choice in Vehicle Purchases Act, which ultimately passed in a 222-190 vote. Eight Democrats voted with every Republican.
That legislation, from Rep. John Joyce (R., Pa.), would block the Biden-Harris administration's waiver allowing California to impose its own EV mandate, one that has since been adopted by more than a dozen other states.
The administration granted California the Clean Air Act waiver in March 2022, reversing an action taken by the Trump administration. Then, five months later, California unveiled its so-called clean cars rules, outlawing new gas cars by 2035.
The Slotkin campaign didn't respond to a request for comment.