Slotkin Says Democrats Need ‘New Blood’ With Biden 2024 Pending

(Bloomberg) -- Representative Elissa Slotkin, a Michigan Democrat facing a tight race in November, said her party needs “new blood” though she’d back President Joe Biden if he seeks a second term in 2024.

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Slotkin, who represents a district that Donald Trump carried twice, sought to burnish her independence from traditional Democratic leaders in an interview Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

“He’s the sitting president,” Slotkin said of Biden. “If he decides to run again, I’m going to support him, the party’s going to support him.”

Yet, she said, “we need a new generation, we need new blood, period, across the Democratic Party.”

Slotkin, 46, called for more party leaders from the Midwest. She was among a handful of Democrats who didn’t vote for Nancy Pelosi as House speaker in 2019 and 2021.

Biden has said he intends to run for re-election, though he’ll decide after congressional midterm elections in November.

While his approval ratings have recovered from lows reached over the summer, a Washington Post-ABC News poll in September found 56% of Democrats and Democrat-leaning independents say the party should pick a different nominee for 2024.

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