In fact, such a national base, however generous, can leave candidates open to “Washington insider” or “elitist” attacks and make it harder for them to come across to voters as one of them. Already, Slotkin has been slapped with the “carpetbagger” label by the Republican incumbent.

Stu Sandler, a spokesman for Bishop, says candidates like Slotkin who “parachute” into a district are likely to suffer the same fate as Jon Ossoff, a former Capitol Hill aide who lost a special congressional election in Georgia last spring despite millions funneled to him by Democrats nationwide. In the high-profile contest, seen as an early test of the Trump effect, Ossoff was attacked for living outside the district in which he was running.

“I think there’s something to be said for people who actually live in a district and have ties to it versus parachute in, which is a concerted plan by some of the Obama staffers because their candidate lost the presidential race,” says Sandler.

Slotkin, a third-generation Michigander whose grandfather created the “ballpark frank” for Tigers Stadium, says she welcomes her opponent’s attack. “Every time he calls me a carpetbagger I get to talk about my three tours in a combat zone, my 14 years in government working on national security protecting the homeland while he’s been a career politician,” she says.