Michigan Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Holly, claimed again she “would never support any kind of mandate” for electric vehicles, days after getting fact-checked on her Senate campaign’s advertising and debate claims.
I live on a dirt road without a charger station in sight — I don’t care what kind of car you want to drive, and I would never support any kind of mandate.
But if someone’s going to build the next generation of vehicles, I want it to be us. There’s no way I'll stand by and let…
— Elissa Slotkin (@ElissaSlotkin) October 14, 2024
Yet, Slotkin voted twice in the House — including barely six weeks ago — for the mandates.
Slotkin, who is currently running to replace Michigan’s retiring U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, also claimed on a debate stage Monday night with GOP challenger and former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers that she did not support EV mandates.
Slotkin’s strange campaign ads also claim the heiress to the Ballpark Franks estate cannot drive an EV because she lives on one of Michigan’s 36,000 miles of dirt roads. A quarter of the state’s roads are unpaved, which, according to Slotkin, would make anyone living on an unpaved road unlikely to enter the EV market.
Go Ad-Free, Get Content, Go Premium Today - $1 Trial
Furthermore, a 2012 Michigan Technological University study, citing U.S. Department of Transportation data, noted more than one-third of the nation’s roads are unpaved. Additionally, not all unpaved roads exist in rural areas. Even large metropolitan locations such as Ann Arbor, Detroit, and Lansing contain dirt roads within city limits.
The poor condition of Michigan’s paved roads also pose problems for EV adaptation. According to a report by the Citizen’s Research Council last April, Michigan ranked 40th in the nation for road pavement quality, with the state’s rural roads ranked better than urban thoroughfares.
“No one should tell us what to buy, and no one’s going to mandate anything,” Slotkin’s ad says, a claim she repeated on the debate stage last week.
Go Ad-Free, Get Content, Go Premium Today - $1 Trial
Slotkin voted in the House last year for EPA measures that would tie manufacturers and consumers to EVs. In September, the House attempted to nullify EV mandates by striking down the EPA measures. Slotkin voted against the House Joint Resolution.
Slotkin’s spin on her support of EV mandates have left her vulnerable to Rogers’ attacks on her record and could leave her exposed at the ballot box.
The mandates could threaten over 4,000 UAW manufacturing jobs building internal combustion propelled vehicles, making the mandates a flashpoint in Michigan’s Senate race.
But why would Slotkin claim the EVs she voted to mandate are impractical for Michiganders who live on Michigan’s 36,000 miles of unpaved roads?
Slotkin’s line on EVs turns to manufacturing: “If there’s going to be a new generation of vehicles I want that new generation built right here in Michigan, not China.”
Slotkin’s pivot from her record of support for EV mandates papers over her possible connection with Gotion — the realities of which are sealed behind an nondisclosure agreement Slotkin signed with Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s Michigan Economic Development Corporation.
Slotkin, along with Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, received donations from a law firm representing Gotion before the CCP-linked batter maker got $175 million in taxpayer funds as part of the deal.
The extent of Slotkin’s ties with Gotion is unclear, but the Michigan Economic Development Corporation was working on the deal with Gotion around the time of Slotkin’s NDA. While Slotkin supported EV mandates, from which Gotion would benefit, she is now backpedaling with ads that say she “would never” support the mandates.
With media running cover for her NDA, Slotkin apparently feels free to deny support for the mandates and campaign on the so-called on-shoring of EV manufacture in Michigan: presumably related to the $175 million Gotion deal.
During the debate Tuesday night, Elissa Slotkin misled viewers when she said she didn't sign an NDA "with any Chinese government, Chinese entity, Chinese company".
She signed an NDA with MEDC *for* the CCP Gotion project to keep the company's secrets from Michigan taxpayers. pic.twitter.com/mGxByZ5v8h
— The Midwesterner (@Th_Midwesterner) October 9, 2024
Behind the spin is Slotkin’s double bind: the secrecy of Slotkin’s NDA against the backdrop of the Gotion deal and EV mandates she voted for suggests Michigan voters are caught in the middle of her compromises.
Meanwhile, Slotkin’s ad strangely admits the EVs she voted to mandate, such as Gotion’s, are impractical in an attempt to paper over her record with voters.