Bridget Brink, who served as the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine and resigned due to President Trump’s treatment of the country, has announced her candidacy for Congress in Michigan.
Brink, a seasoned diplomat with experience in Eastern European countries, is positioning herself as a candidate focused on public service for the upcoming midterm elections, a crucial time for Democrats aiming to secure control of the House.
“My next mission: to fight for what’s right here at home,” she said.
Initially appointed as the ambassador to Slovakia by Trump in 2019, Brink was later selected by President Biden for the Ukraine ambassadorship following Russia’s invasion of the country in 2022. She stepped down in April, citing Trump’s biased pressure on Ukraine over Russia in a published op-ed in the Detroit Free Press.
“Appeasing a dictator never has and never will achieve lasting peace,” she said in a video announcing her candidacy. “And it’s just not who we are.”
Having worked as a diplomat under five presidents, Brink said that if elected, she would take on “extremists” and powerful influences such as Elon Musk. She criticized Republicans for cutting government funding and programs.
Brink, who grew up in Grand Rapids, is running in the 7th District, which covers a swath of southern and central Michigan that includes the capital, Lansing, and is one of the state’s most competitive.
Last year, Army veteran Tom Barrett flipped the district for Republicans, delivering a key win for the party as it kept its House majority. He defeated Democrat Curtis Hill by almost four percentage points in the open race.
The seat was previously held by centrist Democrat Elissa Slotkin, a former CIA analyst who successfully ran for U.S. Senate in 2024.
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