(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . New Faces in Congress: Rep. Hillary Scholten, A West Side of Michigan Story [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2023-10-29 West Michigan is populated by a large contingent of Dutch evangelical Christians. This wouldn’t seem like fertile ground for a Democratic member of Congress, but recent political events, namely the rise of Trump, have changed the outlook of the voters in the area. In 2022, voters in Grand Rapids and Muskegon voted for Rep. Hillary Scholten, the first Democratic member of Congress for West Michigan in nearly 50 years. Today, the spotlight is on the story of Rep. Hillary Scholten! What makes Scholten acceptable to the voters in Michigan’s 3rd district? She shares a story with most of them, and she especially sticks out in the Democratic Party by being a white evangelical Christian. Want to help the freshmen members of Congress like Hillary Scholten? Please donate to the New Faces in Congress Fund on ActBlue! Rep. Hillary Scholten (Michigan-3) Donate | House Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram Biography — Who is Hillary Scholten? Rep. Hillary Scholten’s biography will be intertwined with each of the following sections, much like her faith is deeply intertwined with her life. You will also find that the story of West Michigan is her story, as her House website details. Congresswoman Scholten is a fourth-generation West Michigander, a mom, a Christian, and an attorney who proudly served in the U.S. Department of Justice. Her great-great-grandparents emigrated to the United States to find opportunity in West Michigan. Ever since, her parents, grandparents, and extended family have put down deep roots in this community—committed not only to building a better life for themselves and their families, but devoted to creating a better community for all. What makes Rep. Hillary Scholten a member of the Democratic Party when so many of her fellow white religious voters flock to the GOP? Her first career as a social worker may have a lot to do with it. It allowed her to interact with people she would otherwise never have met. Inspired by her mother, a dedicated community servant who spent most of her career as a public school teacher at a high-poverty elementary school, Congresswoman Scholten began her own career as a social worker. She worked with people affected by issues of housing and homelessness [including] individuals in the LGBTQ community…. [S]he gained insight and expertise into how systems work and far too often don’t for those on the margins in society. Rep. Hillary Scholten, shortly before joining Congress. Hillary Scholten changed careers when she realized that her faith called on her to help those with an even greater need — the immigrants who risk it all to make a better life in the United States. Her campaign website explains: Seeing time and again that the system is rigged for the wealthy and well-connected, I realized that in order to make real change, we had to change the system. That’s why I went to law school, clerked for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, and later worked for the Department of Justice (DOJ) under the Obama Administration. At the DOJ, our goal was to create strong, fair, and moral immigration policies. But when President Trump was elected, chaos took over. Carefully crafted policies focused on keeping Americans safe were overruled by late night tweets. While Washington dissolved further into hyper-partisan bickering, I joined the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center to handle our growing immigration crisis, protect Michigan families, and defend our Constitution. I also served as a volunteer attorney for Times Up Legal Defense Fund, an organization that provides legal service to women who face sexual harassment in the workplace. A Lesson to be Learned: Match the District! Since Gerry Ford began his long tenure as a Representative, only one Democrat represented Grand Rapids in Congress – Richard Vander Veen from 1974 to 1977. The redistricting after the 1990 census moved Grand Rapids from the 5th to the 3rd congressional district. Long-term Representatives Vern Ehlers and Justin Amash easily won election. Only when Amash became “never Trump” and retired rather than attempt to run on the ticket with Trump, did the district seem competitive. Scholten ran for the open seat in 2020. Scholten was the most lauded Democratic candidate in years. The old district voted for Trump by a 50%-47% margin, and it was an uphill fight against the Republican first-time candidate Peter Meijer. She came up short , losing 53%-47%, but it was the best performance by a Democratic politician in the area in quite some time. It was widely expected that the two candidates would spar again in the 2022 midterm election, but a couple of funny things happened on the way to a rematch in 2022. Michigan passed through a ballot measure an independent redistricting commission. In West Michigan, a marginally Democratic seat was created instead of a gerrymandered Republican-leaning one. Rep. Peter Meijer voted to impeach Trump after the 1/6 insurrection, triggering a primary challenge by Trump administration official John Gibbs. With a little bit of help from the DCCC, Meijer lost his primary to Gibbs . Her campaign strategy actively courted disaffected Republicans that were turned off by the antics of Trump. Scholten opines on the changes in her district . Very few districts can claim to have sent a former representative on to the presidency, but it’s not only about honoring that legacy. I feel like Ford’s model of leadership really set the tone for the next generation of leaders, from Vern Ehlers to Paul Henry. Even though I’m a different gender and a different political party, it’s something that I try to embody as well. So much of the story of West Michigan, and why I got elected, is people feeling like they didn’t leave the Republican Party, but the Republican Party left them. And we were able to provide a new political home. We were talking with a group of constituents while they were out knocking on doors for me, and I started to say, “A lot of Ford Republicans like you —.” And they were like, “No, no. We’re not Ford Republicans. We’re Scholten Democrats.” That’s a change in West Michigan, but we’re not rejecting wholesale the past leadership just because it happened to be aligned with a different political party. Scholten Walks the Walk With Her Faith While many white evangelical Christians fully got behind Trump and first-time candidate Gibbs, the Dutch evangelical Christians in West Michigan started wavering. The Christian Reformed Church has a strong foothold in West Michigan and Grand Rapids, making for a “fairly religious district” with higher-than-average shares of both White evangelical and mainline Protestants, said Corwin Smidt, a senior fellow at the Paul Henry Institute at Calvin University. That effort to attract voters uncomfortable with Trump and MAGA combined with explaining her faith and how she came to her stance on issues important to the religious communities allowed Scholten to easily glide into the seat in the general election. For example, her faith [leads her] to support abortion rights and the LGBTQ+ community, which an overwhelming majority of evangelical Christians reject. She cites Jeremiah 1:5 as her inspiration for being pro-choice , when many Christians use the same verse to affirm their pro-life beliefs. She sat down with Roll Call to discuss navigating this potentially tricky minefield. Yes, I’m very involved in my church…. But the church does not take an official canonical position on abortion, and in fact it came out, even during my election when we had a referendum on the ballot in Michigan, to say that as a political matter, the church doesn’t say whether you have to be pro-life or pro-choice. We honor and affirm the sanctity of life, and there are many different ways you can do that. We’ve got other members of the Christian Reformed Church [in Michigan politics], like our new state Senate majority leader, and I know our campaigns elevated this issue. A lot of people started to question, sometimes for the first time in their lives, what it really means to be, quote-unquote, “pro-life.” When Roe v. Wade was overturned, we saw so many women being forced to near death because they couldn’t get access to the lifesaving care they needed. Women going through miscarriages were told, “Sorry, you have to be in sepsis before we will actually give you a lifesaving abortion.” I overperformed our ballot initiative in the district and had huge support from within the faith community because I took a nuanced, balanced and thoughtful approach to this. x Today’s Supreme Court ruling is the perfect example of why anything short of codifying fundamental civil rights at the national level will never be enough. pic.twitter.com/B22KA6VI2z — Congresswoman Hillary Scholten (@RepScholten) June 30, 2023 Scholten the Problem Solver Scholten has made comprehensive immigration reform one of her key focuses in Congress. She has been working on a bipartisan immigration reform bill with several of her colleagues called the Dignity Act. This short interview clip explains her rationale for supporting this piece of legislation. x We introduced the bipartisan Dignity Act because our country’s immigration crisis is a humanitarian issue, an economic issue, and a national security issue. It has been 40 years since we’ve enacted comprehensive reform–it’s beyond time we take action. @RickAlbinWoodTV pic.twitter.com/dT4hE3iW36 — Congresswoman Hillary Scholten (@RepScholten) August 17, 2023 At a time when immigration has become a deeply polarizing issue, rife with partisan stunts and fearmongering , Scholten’s efforts to reach across the aisle represent a commendable and genuine commitment to finding solutions. The bill, coined The Dignity Act , hearkens back to the bipartisan immigration reform bill proposed and ultimately passed by the Senate’s “ Gang of Eight ” in 2013. Although that effort fell short in the House of Representatives, it managed to demonstrate the potential for unity on what has too long been regarded as the third rail of American politics. Now, Salazar and Escobar’s bill presents a renewed opportunity for expansive reform that paves the way for a fair, humane and orderly immigration system — one that stands in stark contrast both to House Republicans’ draconian messaging bill and to the legislation introduced by Sen. Krysten Sinema (I-Ariz.) and Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), to extend asylum restrictions by granting Title 42-like expulsion authority to border officials. Could her next target be gun safety legislation? This roundtable discussion on CNN happened right after a mass shooting at a Dallas area mall. Rep. Hillary Scholten was a part of the discussion, and she promoted common sense reforms that could be passed by bipartisan majorities. Sadly, the clip was not found on YouTube, so if you want to hear her remarks you will have to click here . Along with other Democratic Representatives, Scholten responded to news that child labor was being exploited across the nation. U.S. Rep. Hillary Scholten, D-Grand Rapids, introduced a bill to increase maximum penalties for companies violating federal child labor laws ( The Justice for Exploited Children Act ) …. In July, Scholten and U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Flint Township, formed a child labor protection task force in Congress to encourage stronger penalties for companies violating child labor practices and push agencies to do more to enforce the laws on the books. An example of her displaying her problem solving ability came when the news broke that child labor was being exploited across the nation. She, along with Rep. Dale Kildee of Michigan, created a Child Labor Protection Task Force . This was prompted by activity in the Michigan state legislature. The Times report also prompted action at the congressional level — U.S. Rep. Hillary Scholten, D-Grand Rapids, introduced a bill to increase maximum penalties for companies violating federal child labor laws in March. In July, Scholten and U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Flint Township, formed a child labor protection task force in Congress to encourage stronger penalties for companies violating child labor practices and push agencies to do more to enforce the laws on the books. With multiple Coast Guard stations in her district, Scholten also introduced the Pay Our Coast Guard Parity Act, which aims to ensure that the Coast Guard is paid through any government shutdown. x This week, I introduced the Pay our Coast Guard Parity Act of 2023 with @RepJenniffer. This vital piece of legislation will make sure our @USCG servicemembers get paid through a government shutdown—just like the other branches of the military. pic.twitter.com/hKTOIGl3Bj — Congresswoman Hillary Scholten (@RepScholten) April 20, 2023 Scholten came to Congress to solve problems that her district and America face. Here are two other bipartisan bills she has helped write or endorsed: Rep. Hillary Scholten has introduced many bipartisan measures in her brief tenure as a member of Congress. She is in the New Democratic Coalition and the Problem Solvers Caucus, which tend to include the most moderate members of our coalition. Indeed, Scholten's record reflects the pragmatic and moderate district she serves. Still, Scholten truly looks out for the people on the margins of society. Whether it is being a social worker, or in the halls of Congress, she wears her faith on her sleeve. She clearly has taken to heart the verses of Matthew 25:40-45. Jesus said: 40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ 41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’ 44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ 45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ Rep. Hillary Scholten, as mentioned before, is a unicorn in the Democratic Party. She is an evangelical white Christian in a party that is increasingly secular. However, she, like former President Jimmy Carter, is what I would hope all Christians would aspire to. Her moderate stances are also a bonus in a part of Michigan that has only started moving left in the era of Trump. Scholten should be the person we have speaking to religious voters in order to persuade some of them that the Democratic Party aligns more closely with their values than the current Republican Party. She only has around 2.6k followers on what was once known as Twitter, which isn’t a lot compared to some of her colleagues. She could use the love and support! Scholten is NOT in a safe seat, and she could very easily be challenged and lose this decade. That is why she is a moderate, and is very careful about what she says and what she decides to support. We need to hold onto districts like hers to have any shot at a majority in the House, so don’t go writing her off just because she isn’t a perfect progressive like many others I have written about are. Rep. Hillary Scholten is a fine addition to our caucus. New Faces in Congress is a diary series meant to highlight our new and diverse members of Congress in the Democratic Party. These 36 House freshmen range from political neophytes to seasoned legislative veterans. The series will run every Sunday morning, bright and early. Last week, the New Faces in Congress series continued with a profile on Rep. Jared Moskowitz from Florida’s 23rd district. If you missed it, feel free to click on this link to read all about him! Next week, I will profile Rep. Seth Magaziner of Rhode Island’s 2nd district. See you then! Rep. Hillary Scholten (Michigan-3) Donate | House Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram Please help our Democratic freshmen in the 118th Congress raise more funds with the New Faces in Congress Fund. Until election day in 2024, we plan to regularly add new names to our list of recipients. Please share a link to this site on your social media! 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