Lawyer Paul Hudson to take on US Rep. Scholten in west Michigan district
East Grand Rapids attorney Paul Hudson will challenge incumbent U.S. Rep. Hillary Scholten, D-Grand Rapids, in Michigan’s 3rd Congressional District this fall, after Hudson emerged victorious from the district’s Republican primary election on Tuesday.
Hudson, who leads the appellate division at the Miller Canfield law firm, defeated Grand Haven entrepreneur Michael Markey. The Associated Press called the race around midnight for Hudson. With 99% of the vote tallied, Hudson led Markey, 55% to 45%.
Scholten, meanwhile, had no trouble in her own Democratic primary Tuesday night, beating west Michigan businessman Salim Al-Shatel 91% to 9% with 99% of the vote counted.
Come back to www.freep.com for updated vote totals.
Before running for Congress, Hudson previously sought a seat on the Michigan Supreme Court, receiving the fourth-most votes in 2022 when two seats were up for election.
On his campaign website, Hudson calls for reducing government spending, cutting taxes and bolstering immigration laws to strengthen the U.S. southern border, among his campaign priorities.
Hudson put out a statement, saying, "Ninety days from now, 3rd District voters will have a clear choice about who will represent them in Congress. My candidacy represents a positive, unifying vision focused on promoting growth, prosperity and security for all of west Michigan and our nation. By stark contrast, Hillary Scholten campaigned on a promise of moderate bipartisanship, but when she arrived in Congress her record quickly shifted to another party-line progressive."
Scholten ? who was the only Democratic member of Michigan's U.S. House delegation to call for President Joe Biden to step aside as nominee ahead of his decision to do so late last month ? defended her performance in office on social media platform X and said she's looking forward to the election.
"I set out to build something new here in west Michigan. And that's just what I'm doing. I ran on my record of delivering for west Michigan on the issues that matter. That's what voters wanted. I'm so grateful. Now, let’s win this thing in November!" Scholten posted.
The 3rd District is centered around Michigan’s second-largest city, Grand Rapids, and covers most of Kent County. It stretches west to the shores of Lake Michigan, covering the city of Muskegon and the northern half of Ottawa County, as well.
Compared to previous iterations, it’s a much more Democratic-leaning district after it was redrawn ahead of the 2022 midterm elections. Scholten defeated Republican candidate John Gibbs by double digits in 2022, a year in which Democrats throughout the state saw success on election night. Before Scholten’s win, Grand Rapids had seen Republican representation in Congress for decades.
The Cook Political Report rates the district as likely Democratic, meaning Scholten likely has an edge in her reelection campaign, but the race could become competitive heading toward November. And Hudson, who has gathered institutional support among Republicans, could prove to be a formidable challenger in the 3rd, especially with the GOP stoking concerns about illegal immigration in the area.
He does, however, have a cash-on-hand disadvantage compared to Scholten. He had around $306,000 in cash on hand at the end of the most recent reporting period, according to the Federal Elections Commission. FEC data shows Scholten with over $2.4 million in cash on hand for the same period.
Contact Arpan Lobo: [email protected]. Staff writer Todd Spangler contributed to this story.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Lawyer Paul Hudson to take on US Rep. Scholten in west Michigan district
