We hope the Democratic Party and its supporters can take the words of one of their own freshman senators, U.S. Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., to heart.

In a recent interview with realclearpolitics.com, a news aggregator and website, Slotkin emphasized two issues that we ourselves have stressed the importance of in our own region: Affordable housing and affordable energy.

“People get nervous when a lot of new housing is proposed,” Slotkin told Realclearpolitics.com’s Phil Wegmann. “But we’re short 4 million units. That’s a crisis. … So, fix it federally, own the fact we’re over-regulated, and then engage honestly at the local level.”

Likewise on energy, Slotkin said she wants to see an “all-of-the-above” approach to meeting the United States’ energy needs.

As we have said and will continue to say — the foundation of the well-being and economic security of American families is built on affordable energy and affordable housing. The capability of Americans to reinvest in their own neighborhoods and communities is driven by the percentage of their paychecks consumed by mortgage bills or rent and by the percentage going into their gas tanks and electric and heating bills. How large their paychecks are in the first place is in part determined by how much revenue their employers must spend on their own bills.

We remain concerned that, too often, both environmental alarmism and a sense that “nanny-state” government must inject itself into every construction site and housing project enable the most meddlesome traits of the Democratic Party and modern left and hinder the ability of Americans to have access to affordable energy and affordable housing.

We hope the common-sense centrism Senator Slotkin put on display in her recent interview offers her party as a whole an avenue for better serving families and communities in our region and across our nation.