Hillary Scholten
American politician (born 1982) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
American politician (born 1982) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Hillary Jeanne Scholten (/ˈskoʊltən/ SKOHL-tən; born February 22, 1982)[1][2] is an American attorney and politician serving as the U.S. representative from Michigan's 3rd congressional district since 2023. A member of the Democratic Party, she represents Grand Rapids and much of the urban core of West Michigan, in a district once represented by former President Gerald Ford.
Hillary Scholten | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Scholten in 2023 | |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Michigan's 3rd district | |
| Assumed office January 3, 2023 | |
| Preceded by | Peter Meijer |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Hillary Jeanne Scholten February 22, 1982 Grand Rapids, Michigan, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Jesse Holcomb |
| Children | 2 |
| Education | |
| Website | House website |
Scholten grew up in Hudsonville, Michigan. She attended Unity Christian High School and graduated from Gordon College and the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law.[3]
Scholten was a judicial law clerk and attorney adviser for the Board of Immigration Appeals from 2013 to 2017. When the Obama administration ended, she moved back to Grand Rapids and became a staff attorney for the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center.[4]
In July 2019, Scholten announced her candidacy for the United States House of Representatives in Michigan's 3rd congressional district in the 2020 elections.[3] She was unopposed in the Democratic Party primary.[5] She lost the general election to Republican nominee Peter Meijer,[6] but came the closest a Democrat had come to winning the district since 1982, when incumbent Republican Harold S. Sawyer was held to 51% in what was then the 5th district.[7] It was also only the second time since 1982 that a Democrat had received 40% of the vote; the Democratic nominee received 43% two years earlier.[8]
Scholten ran again in the 2022 elections.[9] She was again unopposed in the Democratic primary. She was initially preparing for a rematch against Peter Meijer, but Meijer lost the Republican primary to a considerably more conservative challenger, former Trump administration official John Gibbs.[10]
Scholten was running in a district that had been made much friendlier to Democrats in redistricting; it had been pushed to the west to grab a large portion of the Lake Michigan shoreline, including Muskegon.[11] Had it existed in 2020, Joe Biden would have won it with 53% of the vote;[12] Donald Trump carried the old 3rd with 51%.[13] Scholten (54.9%) defeated Gibbs (42%) to win election to the 118th United States Congress.[14]
Scholten ran again in the 2024 election. She had token opposition in the Democratic primary, winning 91% of the vote. She went on to win the general election winning 53.7% of the vote against a Republican opponent.[15]
She joined in the calls for Joe Biden to step aside as the Democratic presidential nominee, becoming the first in Michigan's congressional delegation to do so leading to retaliation from Biden allies.[16][17]
Source:[18]
Scholten joined Vice President and 2024 Democratic Party presidential candidiate Kamala Harris and Governor Gretchen Whitmer, in Harris's Reproductive Rights Tour who participated in a roundtable discussion in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on the topic of reproductive rights for women, February 2024 at The Fountain Street Church, a historic church in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Harris complimented on Scholten's grit on a women's right to choose and praised her for being an advocate for Reproductive Rights. Scholten supports abortion rights.[21] In a speech opposing the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, she cited Jeremiah 1:5, which states, "I knew you before I formed you and placed you in your mother's womb", a verse commonly cited by Christians "to make theological or scriptural arguments in favor of legal protections for preborn children".[22][23]
Scholten's husband, Jesse Holcomb, is a journalism professor at Calvin University, a Reformed Christian institute. They have two sons, James and Wesley.[3] Scholten is a member of LaGrave Avenue Christian Reformed Church and currently serves as a deacon at The LaGrave Avenue Christian Reformed Church of North America. [24] Scholten describes herself as a devout Christian who is strong in her faith.[25]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Peter Meijer | 213,649 | 53.0 | |
| Democratic | Hillary Scholten | 189,769 | 47.0 | |
| Independent | Richard Fuentes (write-in) | 1 | 0.0 | |
| Total votes | 403,419 | 100.0 | ||
| Republican gain from Libertarian | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Hillary Scholten | 185,989 | 54.87 | |
| Republican | John Gibbs | 142,229 | 41.96 | |
| Libertarian | Jamie Lewis | 6,634 | 1.96 | |
| Working Class | Louis Palus | 4,136 | 1.22 | |
| Total votes | 338,988 | 100.0 | ||
| Democratic gain from Republican | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Hillary Scholten (incumbent) | 225,400 | 53.7 | |
| Republican | Paul Hudson | 183,896 | 43.8 | |
| Libertarian | Alex Avery | 5,282 | 1.3 | |
| Working Class | Louis Palus | 5,546 | 1.3 | |
| Total votes | 418,841 | 100.0% | ||
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