Elissa Slotkin

The Democrats will need Ohio and other Midwest states if they want to win back Congress and the White House, Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval and Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin told a crowd at a town hall in Cincinnati's Over-the-Rhine neighborhood.

Both Slotkin and Pureval on April 9 stood before dozens of Cincinnati-area Democrats on a stage at Rhinegeist Brewery for a town hall sponsored by Majority Democrats, the political action committee they both belong to that formed in 2025 to broaden the appeal of the Democratic Party and reshape it in the wake of the 2024 election.

"We need more Midwestern voices in the Democratic Party," Slotkin said. "We need more votes for leading from the middle of the country."

Slotkin a possible presidential candidate

Slotkin is also a potential 2028 Democratic presidential candidate. She just finished a tour of Iowa days earlier and told the Des Moines Register she'd consider running for president. She's also touring Kansas, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Idaho, all states President Donald Trump won in 2024.

She wasn't ready to announce a presidential run on April 9 in Cincinnati.

"I'm happy to find someone who I think has energy and has a different perspective and who knows how to communicate and who can represent in a place like the Midwest," Slotkin told The Enquirer after the event.

Slotkin came to Cincinnati because of Pureval

When asked if any current Democratic leaders in the middle of the country piqued her interest, she pointed to Pureval. She said she was Pureval was the reason she included Cincinnati on her tour.

"I'm here because of Aftab, because the mayor, because I think he's a very interesting, capable, up-and-coming leader," Slotkin said.

Progressives vs. moderates caused some tension

Most of the hourlong town hall was a Q&A session with a largely sympathetic crowd filled with Democratic activists and local politicians, including two Cincinnati City Council members and a congressional candidate from Dayton.

But some tension was visible when it came to the progressive vs. moderate wing of the Democratic Party, particularly as it relates to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Slotkin, in response to a question, told the crowd she hasn't accepted money from the American Isreal Public Affairs Committee. She then took exception at another audience member who said pro-Israel lobby groups have spent millions on her campaigns.

"If you're equating the Israel lobby to Jews, I've got a problem with that," Slotkin said. Slotkin said she wasn't sure what the speaker was referring to. "I think it's really important, especially now, to make a distinction between the Israeli government and the choices that they're making and the average Jew."

Her response drew applause from the audience. At the end of the program, another questioner said he found her response to the question offensive and said he felt the Democratic Party was pushing progressive voices away in favor of moderates.

Slotkin stood by what she said. She said she's tired of the progressive vs. moderate debate.

"It feels stale to me," she said. "When I sit in that room with other senior elected senators, it doesn't split down lines of moderate vs. progressive."

She said it splits between people who want to fight Trump and those who want to wait it out. "I'm on team fight every single day of the week," she said.

'As big of a big tent party as possible'

Most of the town hall focused on growing the Democratic Party. Trump has won Ohio three times since 2016. Republicans in Ohio control all statewide offices and have a supermajority in the General Assembly.

But both Pureval and Slotkin see the state as winnable for the Democrats.

Pureval told The Enquirer after the event he thinks the Democrats can pick up rural voters who voted for Trump in the last election. He thinks discontent over tariffs and inflation could work in the Democrats favor.

"As Democrats, our focus should be being as big of a big tent party as possible," he said.

Slotkin said the party has to be more than just opposition to Trump. The party needs to focus on the ecoomy and helping the middle class, she said.

"It’s to not just point at Trump, and say you’re bad, you’re bad, you're bad, but to figure out our way out of it, the light at the end of the tunnel," she said.

But Trump remains a chief concern for many Democrats. Mala Patel first became involved in politics in 2016 because Trump concerned her. The 60-year-old resident from Cincinnati's Mount Adams neighborhood began canvassing for Democrats that year. She also started an organization to recruit Asian-American candidates.

She agrees with Slotkin and Pureval's goal to reach out to more people. She said Democrats need to talk more with Republicans.

"I think you just have to have conversations," Patel said. "When you door knock and you have those one-on-one conversations with people and really try and understand even if the person thinks different than you. Understand why."