How Michigan Senate candidate’s family farm is growing nothing but trouble for her

Rep. Elissa Slotkin has held up her her eastern Michigan family farm as a way to show that she understands the hard-working voters in the Great Lakes State.

Instead, she’s reaping a bitter harvest with the property in Holly, 50 miles northwest of Detroit becoming a source of controversy in her closely fought swing-state Senate race.

Most recently, the Democrat grossly exaggerated the size of her farm to attendees at a Michigan Farm Bureau forum. “We grow soy and corn on about 300 acres, little bit less than 300 acres right now,” Slotkin said. 3 Slotkin defends her ownership of her family farm despite having no state issued farm license. The Washington Post via Getty Images

In reality, the property she owns is 10 acres.

This isn’t the first time Slotkin has been accused of farmland fabrications.

Just last week The Post reported that the Michigan pol takes a grandfathered-in agricultural tax exemption on her home, saving the hot dog heiress about $2,700 per year in property taxes.

That’s despite the fact that the family stopped raising cattle on the property the reason for the original exemption decades ago.

And, despite her claim that soybeans have been sown on the land, it appears there’s no proof any agriculture is taking place.

That property is itself classified as vacant agricultural land. Aerial shots, available through land records, show no evidence of farming. 3 An agricultural tax exemption on her home saves Slotkin about $2,700 per year in property taxes. The Washington Post via Getty Images

The property next to the Slotkin home is owned by Slotkin Holly Associates. Slotkin and her brother were gifted their homestead for free via quitclaim deed, but neither are connected to Slotkin Holly Associates, records show.

Still, the Slotkin campaign maintains that the farm does have soybeans planted, and Oakland County officials OK’d the agricultural zoning status.

Rep. Slotkins farm has been in her family for three generations, since 1956,” Slotkin campaign spokesman Austin Cook told The Post in a statement. “During her early life, the farm was a working cattle farm. The land is now used to grow soybeans which are currently planted. 3 Kimberly P. Mitchell / USA TODAY NETWORK

The pol has claimed in past years to be leasing the land adjacent her home, but her financial disclosure from earlier this month did not name a farming lease among her assets.

Slotkin’s dubious farming status hasn’t stopped her from attacking her opponent as a carpet-bagger.

In an ad recently rated “false” by PoltiiFact, Slotkin attacked her GOP opponent Mike Rogers in a 15-second spot claiming that that after departing Congress, the ex-congressman left Michigan to trade on his D.C. connections, helping Chinese tech companies get access to the US.”

But AT&T, Rogers’ client at the time, confirmed that he wasn’t on any project involving Huawei, the Chinese firm Slotkin’s ad mentioned. In fact, Rogers appeared on 60 Minutes to urge companies to work against working with the Chinese telecom.

Before her election to the House in 2018, Slotkin was a career intelligence analyst with stints at the CIA, National Security Council, DOD, and the State Department. She returned to Michigan in 2017 when she launched her congressional bid.

“She sure paid her property taxes in Washington, D.C. all those years,” Rogers said. “She didn’t claim a credit there. She took one here on the backs of law enforcement and firefighters and schools.”

Recent polls show Slotkin up by at least 10 points over Rogers.