GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Here in West Michigan, one of the most contested and most coveted swing seats in Congress is up for grabs.
Three candidates are running to unseat first-term Democratic incumbent Hillary Scholten in the state's 3rd Congressional District, which encompasses parts of Kent, Ottawa and Muskegon counties.
Scholten, the first Democrat in decades to represent the area and the first woman to do so, is also running to remain in the office.
This week, 13 ON YOUR SIDE sat down with all four candidates who will be on the ballot in the August 6th primary election to hear their messages to voters.
THE REPUBLICANS
Michael Markey Jr.
A financial advisor, Mr. Markey has leaned on his identity as a businessman to sell his candidacy to voters.
"I know what it's like to sign that front of a check and the back of a check," Markey said. "I know what it's like to take that responsibility. I know what it's like to have to get things done. Because as a business owner, you don't make money when you don't get things done."
In his campaign to distinguish himself in the race, Markey has branded himself as a disrupter. While he acknowledged initial hesitancy to embrace such a label, given possible negative connotations, he says he was convinced of how it could ultimately carry an outsized, positive message.
"I'm like, 'Why are we using, you know, what makes me a disrupter?' [My team is] like, 'Mike, you started your first business at 14 years old, you got into real estate before you were 15, you started a financial firm during the worst economic crisis hopefully we ever see in our lifetimes.' They're like, 'That makes you a disrupter. You go against the grain, you get things done.'"
The label of "disrupter," Markey contends, would extend to the change he believes he would bring if elected.
"I guess I'd ask everyone watching right now, 'Do you think Congress is actually working? Do you feel good with how things are in DC?'" Markey said. "I'll bet you more than two thirds, if not three quarters, of those watching right now are saying, 'No, it's not working.' Well, then, if it's not working, we've got to stop doing what we've been doing."
In terms of policies for which he says he'd advocate in Congress, including securing the national border, reducing national spending and reducing government influence over small businesses.
"We've been allowing corporations get bigger, and then we've been making the government bigger to try to rein them in," Markey said. "It's not working. Everybody knows it's not working. It's been a total failure. So how do you start reining in corporate greed? Empower small businesses."
"You've got to lower taxes for small businesses," he said. "You've got to simplify regulations. I mean, every time the government comes out with a new regulation on small businesses like mine and so many others, it's like you have to be a legal scholar to know how it affects you. Well, the disadvantage to us as a small business, the big businesses, they've got a team of lawyers on retainer immediately they know the work around so. Small businesses are then left trying to catch up."
Drawing contrast to his opponent, Markey took aim at what he viewed were his opponent's personal leanings.
"One of his, this is great, one of [Hudson's] endorsements by one of the major newspapers said they're behind Paul because he is a refreshing detachment from Republican positions," Markey said. "I mean, that's not who Republican voters want. They don't want somebody who doesn't support Republican positions. So, yeah, I think it's very clear."
Paul Hudson
An attorney, Mr. Hudson has sought to label himself as what his campaign describes as "common sense for crazy times."
"When I've talked to voters, I get a sense that people are really uneasy about the state of the country right now, and that there's a deep sense that the country is going in the wrong direction," Hudson said.
Central to his message, Hudson has leaned on what he has labeled his "GPS Plan" - an acronym he says stands for "growth, prosperity and security."
"It's my policy platform - a set of principles and specific policy specifics that are serving as the guide for my campaign, and then a guide for how I would serve as a representative in Congress as well," Hudson explained.
Expanding on that explanation, Hudson outlined what he says he will look to prioritize if chosen by district voters to represent them.
"I think we need to focus on pro-growth policies," Hudson said. "That's things like lower lowering taxes."
"We need to tackle inflation and government spending," he continued. "We have a $35 trillion national debt right now. Congress has been on a spending spree, and it's stifling growth, and it's leading to the inflation that we're seeing with cost of living going up prosperity. We need to invest in education for our kids; that's how we set the next generation up for prosperity. And then finally, security. We need to secure our border, we need to secure our cities and we need to recommit to bold American leadership on the world stage as well."
Further explaining his positions, Hudson honed in on particular issues of inflation and the border.
"You can't fool people on that one when a cart of groceries costs 30, 40, 50 bucks more than it did just a few years ago," Hudson said. "And then securing the border - I think this is just a common sense issue. People are concerned. We have immigration laws for a reason, and we need to enforce them. And there's a real sense right now that from the border czar, Kamala Harris, and President Biden, that nobody's minding the store right now. And it's a real problem that people are very frustrated with."
In contrast to the label his opponent has sought to use to his advantage, Hudson said he believes too many disrupters have already ascended to Congress and have engaged in "disrupting the people's business."
"We've got too many people that are prancing around on social media and cable news and not doing the very serious job of lawmaking in Washington," Hudson said. "And so, a common sense conservative, to me, is somebody who focuses on the actual issues of the day and gets things done for West Michigan."
"I've focused from day one on presenting a positive vision for the kind of legislator that I would be that people can expect across West Michigan when I become their representative in Congress," Hudson said. "I've focused on the policy platform that we laid out in the GPS plan, and we're going to let the voters decide on that."
THE DEMOCRATS
Hillary Scholten
Ms. Scholten is the incumbent congresswoman for the 3rd congressional district.
She says she's running on her record after her first term in office - a term that she's branded as the change for which voters asked two years ago when they sent her to Capitol Hill.
"Other people can make a lot of promises," Scholten said. "It's easy to sit on the sidelines and cast stones or say what you would do, but I'm the only one running who's been able to get up every day and deliver on the things that I promised to do in 2022 and we've done them."
In the two years since, Scholten signaled she has maintained the same attitude toward the region's distinctive importance.
"This election is first and foremost about deciding the type of representation that we want in Congress, but it will also play a critical role in deciding the future makeup of the House of Representatives. You know, there is no path to a majority in the House, the Senate or the presidency without winning here in West Michigan."
So what does she say that record and messaging is?
When she spoke with 13 ON YOUR SIDE, she touched on issues including healthcare, infrastructure and protections she'd like to see for reproductive options.
"People are focused on health care," Scholten said. "People are focused on the high cost of living. We've made some tremendous gains thanks in large part to investments from the bipartisan infrastructure law. We just got some updated data today that just the investments in our roads and bridges alone are saving West Michiganders an average of close to $700 every year on upkeep to their cars."
"So, things like that are starting to make an impact," Scholten said. "But we're just getting started on things like lowering health care costs. We've capped prescription insulin at $35 for seniors. I want to do that for everyone. So a lot of the things that we started on we want to keep doing and do at a bigger scale."
While Congress has not made any successful moves during her tenure to re-institute federal protections for reproductive options reminiscent of those offered prior to the overturn of Roe v. Wade in 2022, Scholten highlighted such to make her case for her view on the issue.
"Here in Michigan, we were able to codify the right to make your own health care choices as a woman, but that is not safe and secured throughout the country," Scholten said. "And we know that doctors here are feeling the strain from women in Indiana who are crossing the border, coming here to get the health care that they need. And also, you know, if we were to lose a pro-choice majority in the House, the Senate and the presidency, we could lose the rights that we protected here in West Michigan."
While events in recent weeks have transformed the political landscape and dialogue, Scholten believes, given the persisting concerns around the issues she highlighted, her strategy remains the same from when she was first elected.
"I wouldn't say there's a dichotomy," Scholten said. "In fact, I'd say there's consistency. I'm running on the record that I have been able to accomplish in my first two years. You know, I ran to be a problem solver, and people wanted it in overwhelming numbers. People came out to vote for that kind of change. I delivered that kind of change, and now I'm running on the promise to keep it going so we can keep delivering on these kinds of wins."
Salim Al-Shatel
Mr. Al-Shatel's name may not be as ubiquitous in 3rd District politics as Scholten's, simply due to her incumbency, but he's branded himself as an alternative to the sitting congresswoman with whom he says he became disillusioned over time.
"I didn't want to complain about it on social media or to my friends or something," Al-Shatel said. "I wanted to give the people another option, because Hillary's ran unopposed twice now [in the primary], and I didn't want her to go unchecked with that stuff."
"So I went out there again, pulled myself up by the bootstraps, and got out, got signatures, and I got my name on the ballot," he said. "And I feel like I've proven it to people that I'm willing to go out have conversations. You don't need to be a Democrat for me to have a conversation with you. I will address and talk to people."
Al-Shatel has sought to draw contrast with things including Scholten's acceptance of political action committee (PAC) money - something he says he will not do.
"Even if I am elected, I promise I will not accept that type of money, because I want to make sure that I'm bringing that sense of transparency for a lot of people," Al-Shatel said. "The biggest thing for me is just having those honest and hard conversations with everyone."
In terms of policies he'd seek to enact if elected, when he spoke with 13 ON YOUR SIDE, he highlighted topics including government transparency, reaching an affordable cost of living and opposition to what he and others describe as 'forever wars' overseas.
"I'm looking at that as a genocide of what's going on with the innocent people that are dying there," Al-Shatel said. "And I don't see the need for us to continue sending money abroad here to these wars when people here don't have universal health care, the rising price of groceries, the rising price of homes."
His Muskegon County roots, he believes, connect him to grasp an affinity for finding a middle ground in achieving priorities.
"I think it's really important that there are going to be the questions of abortion rights are usually, you know, those hot, topics that really separate people. But for a lot of people, I mean, there's the healthcare questions, taxes, afford housing, those are things that people can connect on and actually find some common ground with people."
With what he's described as a grassroots approach to a congressional run, Al-Shatel recognized the challenges that may come with challenging an incumbent, but expressed a continued determination to offer an alternative.
"Throughout this whole process, I've been very hands-on and very involved in door knocking, phone banking, all that stuff and having conversations with people," Al-Shatel said. "And the biggest things that I've heard from these people is just the lack of transparency and connection that they feel like they have to their politicians."
