Abortion-rights groups’ leaders to campaign with Slotkin in Michigan Senate race

The leaders of three key abortion-rights groups are traveling to Michigan this week to campaign for Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) in her bid for the U.S. Senate.

The presidents of EMILY’s List, Planned Parenthood and Reproductive Freedom for All — Jessica Mackler, Alexis McGill Johnson and Mini Timmaraju, respectively — will attend a rally for Slotkin in Grand Rapids, Mich., on Thursday, according to plans first shared with The Hill.  

All three organizations have already thrown their weight behind the Michigan Democrat, who is seen as the front-runner in the Democratic Senate primary. She’s expected to take on former Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) in November. 

However, the coordination of three national abortion rights leaders to campaign in a battleground state is notable, underscoring how Democrats are leaning heavily on the issue to juice up voter turnout heading into November.  

The party leaned on that issue last cycle when Michigan became one of the first states after the overturning of Roe v. Wade to enshrine abortion protections into the state’s constitution.

Michigan is among a handful of swing states that will determine the race to the White House and control of the Senate in the fall, but the Great Lakes State has also become a focal point this cycle as it became one of the first states to demonstrate a serious protest vote against the Biden administration’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war.  

Although President Biden overwhelmingly won the Democratic presidential contest in Michigan, more than 101,000 primary voters — 13 percent of the vote share — cast ballots for “uncommitted” during the primary over his handling of the war. Other states have since replicated similar protest votes to varying degrees of success.

Of course, Michigan is not a shoo-in for former President Trump either — he won his GOP primary with 68 percent of the vote, while rival Nikki Haley received 27 percent support. It’s unclear how those numbers will translate, given Haley endorsed the former president since then. 

In a compilation of Michigan surveys compiled by The Hill and Decision Desk HQ, Biden and Trump are tied with an average of 42 percent, while independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is at 7 percent.  

Even without Kennedy in the race, Biden and Trump are nearly tied again at 47 percent and 48 percent, respectively.