GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The 2020 election is more than a year out, but candidates for Michigan's 3rd Congressional District are lining up. Three people announced their campaigns within one week.
As of Tuesday, there are 10 people who are campaigning to be elected to Congress. Rep. Justin Amash (I-Grand Rapids) currently fills the seat, and he said he is planning on running for re-election as an Independent.
Amash has represented the 3rd District since 2011. While Amash has been elected to Congress by West Michigan voters five times, the 2020 election would have been the first time he’d face a Republican primary challenger since 2014.
The 3rd Congressional district covers a large swath of West Michigan, including Ionia, Barry, and Calhoun counties and portions of Kent and Montcalm counties. Grand Rapids is the biggest metropolitan area in the district.
Here is an overview of everyone who has announced their campaigns:
INDEPENDENT
Rep. Justin Amash
Amash has the advantage as the incumbent congressman in the Third District.
After leaving the Republican Party, he confirmed that he will still running for re-election in the district as an Independent.
“I intend to be an independent representing my district. I will represent my constituents the way I think is right, which is to follow the Constitution and make sure everyone in the community is represented. Not just one party or the other party, which is how it is in Washington these days, I want to represent every member of my community,” he said about his plans moving forward.
When Amash left the GOP, he faced some criticism that he did it to avoid losing a primary challenge. But he refutes that idea, saying it’s a primary he would win.
“You have a lot of people dividing up the pro-Trump vote saying they are owing their allegiance to Donald Trump. And I’m saying, my allegiance is to the Constitution and to the people of the district. And I think it’s easier to see which position wins out in the primary.”
REPUBLICANS
State Rep. Jim Lower
Lower said he planned to run even before Amash said there is enough evidence in the Mueller report that Trump engaged in impeachable conduct.
“It is never easy to defeat an incumbent, but we are going to do it," Lower said when he announced his campaign. He calls himself a Trump-based candidate.
Lower is currently in his second term in the State House, and he represents Greenville.
Tom Norton
Norton is a Republican from Sand Lake. He was the former Sand Lake Village President and he is an war veteran.
He announced his run in April, weeks before Amash made national headlines for his analysis on the Mueller report.
“The constituents in the 3rd District deserve real representation,” said Norton in May. “Somebody who is going to focus on veterans, fair trade and support the President of the United States.”
State Rep. Lynn Afendoulis
First-term state Rep. Lynn Afendoulis was the third Republican to join the race.
She says she is running to ensure the continuation of America's revival, not to work "against it."
On Thursday, after Amash left the GOP, Afendoulis said she was feeling good about her campaign.
"I'm feeling confident."
Afendoulis currently represents Grand Rapids in the state house.
Peter Meijer
The biggest name in the Republican primary is Peter Meijer, a member of the Meijer family who founded the Midwest grocery store chain.
Meijer, 31, released a YouTube video on July 3 in which he said, "I'm running for Congress because our politicians spend their time trashing each other online, coming up with excuses and pointing fingers. We should expect more from people who represent us."
Meijer has not held public office before, but he said he wants to bring the “voice of the post-9/11 veteran to Congress."
Joel Langlois
Langlois is a Grand Rapids businessman who is the president of the DeltaPlex Area. He announced his candidacy for Congress on Tuesday.
He described himself as being a strong supporter of President Donald Trump, and he hosted Trump at the DeltaPlex Arena during the 2016 election. Langlois has never held political office before, but he said he wants to use his business experience in Washington.
"We need a U.S. Congress and local congressman who will stand up for our conservative principles and have the President’s back," he said in a release.
He jumped into the race just days after sitting Congressman Amash left the Republican Party—leaving that spot in the race wide open for a member of the GOP.
DEMOCRATS
Nick Colvin
Colvin is a former aide for President Barack Obama. He is originally from Ionia and moved back to West Michigan after working in the Obama administration.
His campaign manager said he announced his run in June and raised more than $118,000 in the first 12 days.
"I’m running for office because I’m committed to putting Michigan families and our local economy ahead of the demands of special interests," Colvin says on his campaign website.
Hillary Scholten
Scholten, a Grand Rapids resident, is an immigration lawyer who served in the Justice Department during President Barack Obama's administration.
This year, the 37-year-old also represented Jilmar Ramos-Gomez, a military veteran and U.S. citizen who was arrested and held in ICE detention.
She says her goals include fixing the country's "broken" immigration system and curbing gun violence.
Amanda Le'Anne Brunzell
Brunzell filed her statement of candidacy with the Federal Election Commission on April 2.
She is a U.S. Navy Veteran who has been active in politics and community organizing. One of her focuses is veterans issues.
How does the 3rd District usually vote?
In the 2018 election, the district re-elected incumbent Congressman Amash with 54% of the vote. He beat out the Democratic candidate, Cathy Albro, who got 43% of the vote.
In that election, about two-thirds of the voters came from Kent County. Also in 2018, Kent County voted for Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow and Republican candidate for attorney general Tom Leonard. This shows that neither Republicans or Democrats are getting elected in across the board.
The next largest contingent of voters came from Calhoun County, with about 25%.
Going back to the 2016 election, Kent County voted for Republican President Donald Trump. Hilary Clinton lost the county to Trump by about 3% of votes.
The 3rd Congressional district seat has been filled by a Republican since 1993—up until Amash left the party on Thursday.
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One democratic candidate, Doug Booth, did drop of out of the race in August. He said this contest will be too expensive for his campaign. Booth said that "as a working class person," he is unable to take unpaid work off to run a campaign that "residents of the 3rd District deserve and need at this time."
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