Incumbent Rep. Hillary Scholten (D), Paul Hudson (R), Alexander Avery (L), and Louis Palus (Working Class Party) are running in the general election for Michigan’s 3rd Congressional District on Nov. 5, 2024.
In 2022, Scholten became the first Democrat to represent the district since 1993. She previously ran unsuccessfully in 2020 as the Democratic nominee. The 2022 election was the first since redistricting following the 2020 census. Bridge Michigan’s Lauren Gibbons wrote that “While former political maps lumped the Democratic-leaning city of Grand Rapids in with stalwart Republican areas, the current iteration extends to the Lake Michigan coastline and includes portions of Muskegon and Ottawa counties, making it far more politically competitive.”
Bridge Michigan’s Simon D. Schuster described the district as “[embodying] the seismic political realignments precipitated by Donald Trump’s rise. A longtime conservative bastion, it produced the only president from Michigan, Republican Gerald Ford. But like some other areas with large numbers of well-educated suburban voters, it has swung in Democrats’ favor in the Trump era.”
Scholten lost the 2020 election by a margin of six percentage points and won the 2022 election by a margin of seven percentage points. Her professional experience includes working as senior counsel at the Miller Johnson law firm, a staff attorney at the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center, and a judicial law clerk and attorney advisor with the U.S. Justice Department‘s Board of Immigration Appeals.
Scholten is running on her record: “I fight every day to lower healthcare costs, fix the broken immigration system, and work with both parties to pass common sense solutions to the pressing issues facing our community.” Scholten said, “When I say I’m bringing boring back to Congress, I mean focusing on getting real work done instead of chasing headlines and playing partisan games. It’s about setting aside differences and working across the aisle, laser-focused on what truly matters: improving the lives of the hard-working West Michiganders who I serve.”
Hudson is an attorney who leads the appellate division at the Miller Canfield law firm. He previously worked as an associate at Pepper Hamilton LLP and served as a law clerk for U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit Judge Raymond Kethledge. In 2022, Hudson ran unsuccessfully in the nonpartisan election for the Michigan Supreme Court. He received 13.3% of the vote in a field of five candidates.
Hudson said his policy priorities include growth, prosperity, and security: “To grow as a nation, we need to tackle inflation, lower taxes, and rein in government spending. To create prosperity, we need to raise our education standards and invest in West Michigan jobs. Finally, to ensure our American way of life we must recommit to security.” Hudson said he decided to run for Congress because “I’ve been frustrated with the leadership that I’ve seen in Washington. I think our leaders have been failing us for several years now. When I get around the district and talk to people, they feel the same thing.”
Based on Q2 2024 reports filed with the Federal Election Commission, Scholten raised $3.4 million and spent $1 million, and Hudson raised $630,243 and spent $324,207. To review campaign finance figures in full detail, click here.
As of Oct. 6, The Cook Political Report, DDHQ/The Hill, Inside Elections, and Sabato’s Crystal Ball each rated the district as Likely Democratic.