After graduation, Skinner worked for the family of businessman Mike Ilitch, helping to renovate Detroit's Fox Theatre and relocate the Little Caesars International corporate headquarters to the Fox Office Building. She also worked on area redevelopment projects in Downtown Detroit, serving on the Grand Circus Park Redevelopment Board and helping plan for the theatre district's future.
Environmentalism
Following the great Midwestern floods of 1993, Skinner persuaded President Bill Clinton's White House to assemble a team of ten federal agencies and the nations' leading architects and engineers to rebuild two entire towns away from the floodplain using the principles of sustainable development. Their efforts were honored with an award from President Bill Clinton's Council on Sustainable Development. Skinner helped launch the Chicago Climate Exchange, the first voluntary emissions trading program to address global climate change using free market principles. The exchange ran from 2003 to 2010.
Radio commentator
In 1998, Skinner began co-hosting a progressive weekend radio show called Ski & Skinner on WLS in Chicago where she was fired after announcing, on air, that she was running for the U.S. Senate. In 2000, Skinner became co-host of The Doug Stephan Show, a syndicated national morning show heard on over 400 radio stations across the United States. Skinner's show inspired two listeners, Anita and Sheldon Drobny, to create the Air America Radio Network featuring Al Franken and other liberal radio hosts. Since 1999, Skinner has been appearing regularly as a commentator on cable news channelsCNN, MSNBC and the Fox News Channel. When she was offered the position of morning host at Detroit's progressive Air America talk radio station, WDTW 1310 AM, Skinner returned to her home state of Michigan, where she hosted morning drive. Skinner substituted for Randi Rhodes and hosted The Randi Rhodes Show from February 5, 2009, through February 13, 2009. On February 16, 2009, The Nancy Skinner Show debuted on the On Second Thought radio network, the successor to the Nova M Radio network.
Political campaigns
In 2004, Skinner ran for the U.S. Senate from Illinois, losing in the Democratic primary to Barack Obama. Skinner's 2006 campaign in Michigan's 9th district against Joe Knollenberg was initially seen as a long shot; as Knollenberg had double digits margins of victory and Skinner chose to run on the issue of climate change in the seat of the auto industry, where she was endorsed in an ad campaign by Robert Kennedy Jr. for her leadership on the issue. Though the race became more competitive in its final weeks, Knollenberg ultimately defeated Skinner 52 to 46 percent. After the election, Skinner took a position with the staff of First GentlemanDaniel Mulhern, husband of Michigan governorJennifer Granholm and was on the Executive Team of Governor Jennifer Granholm. She resigned from this position and on October 16, 2007, Skinner officially announced that she was again running for the 9th congressional district. On February 25, 2008, however, Skinner announced that she was withdrawing from the race rather than face a contentious primary with former Michigan Lottery Commissioner Gary Peters. In 2014 Skinner ran again for the House of Representatives in Michigan's 11th congressional district. She came in 3rd in the Democratic primary, with 26.5% of the vote. The winner of the Democratic primary, Bobby McKenzie, went on to lose to the Republican nominee, David Trott.
