Grand Rapids could see its first Democratic representative in decades

GRNAD RAPIDS — It's been decades since the greater Grand Rapids area has had a Democratic representative in Congress, but the party has a chance to pick up a House seat there this cycle thanks to the state's latest round of redistricting.

Michigan’s new Third Congressional District, like the old one, is based around Grand Rapids. Unlike the old one, it now stretches west to the shores of Lake Michigan, covering parts of Muskegon and Ottawa counties. That includes the cities of Muskegon and Grand Haven.

New representation will also mark the new district — incumbent Rep. Peter Meijer, R-Grand Rapids Township, narrowly lost to primary challenger John Gibbs. Gibbs, a Republican who worked in the Department of Housing and Urban Development under former President Donald Trump's administration, now faces Democrat Hillary Scholten for the open seat.

Gibbs' campaign declined requests from the Free Press for an interview for this article.

Scholten ran against Meijer in 2020, losing by about six percentage points. The makeup of the new district favors the Democrat Scholten, who worked in the Justice Department during former President Barack Obama's administration, and political experts believe Gibbs’ relatively lower name recognition and fundraising disadvantage also pose a challenge for the Republican.

Scholten would be the first woman elected to represent Grand Rapids in the House, something she believes is resonating throughout her campaign.

"That means women from this community have never seen someone stand up in a public way and have the conversations that we're having about the fact that women get to make their own choices about their own bodies," Scholten told the Free Press.

But the Grand Rapids area hasn’t had Democratic representation since Richard Vander Veen held the seat for what was then the Fifth Congressional District in the mid-'70s. And continued inflation could bode poorly for Democrats, who are fighting nationally to hold onto their narrow control in the House during the midterms.

Scholten hopes to be ‘the lowest profile member of Congress’

Scholten lives in Grand Rapids with her husband, a college professor, and their two school-age sons. An evangelical Christian who grew up in West Michigan, Scholten said she wasn’t raised as a Democrat, and frequently jokes that she didn’t meet a Democrat until her senior year of high school.

She said she hopes to maintain a modest profile in Congress, saying her priorities include working for the district rather than becoming a media darling on Capitol Hill. Her campaign has run ads portraying her as a moderate, including one where she calls on Democrats to stop spending and Republicans to “put people over politics.” She criticized the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, more colloquially known as the Trump tax cuts.

“I do think that we need to have federal spending for essential needs, but we need to have a highly efficient and effective federal government that has targeted spending on issues that need to be addressed in the immediate,” she said during an interview at her campaign’s Grand Rapids headquarters.

Scholten left the Justice Department in 2017, returning to West Michigan as an attorney at the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center.

She says many of the same issues that sparked her decision to run in 2020 remain, but the U.S. Supreme Court’s June ruling to overturn Roe v. Wade, which for nearly 50 years protected abortion access at the federal level, has galvanized her campaign in a way she didn’t originally think possible.

More:Michigan's candidates for governor: Where Gretchen Whitmer and Tudor Dixon stand

“I am not someone who is pro-choice in spite of my faith, I'm pro-choice because of my faith,” Scholten said. “As a woman, as a mother, as a person of deep faith, I recognize all of the complexities that attend to this deeply personal choice.”

Her own stance on abortion access aside, Scholten did admit to being somewhat surprised that even at her own church, she has had conversations where members express their concerns over abortion access.

“People of faith are stepping up and saying women should be allowed to make these decisions on their own and within their own faith parameters,” Scholten said.

Scholten is well aware her party has directly benefited from redistricting around greater Grand Rapids — pointing out the additions of Muskegon, Grand Haven and Grand Valley State University, whose flagship campus sits in Allendale Township and boasts an undergrad enrollment nearing 20,000 students.

“We start with a base that is really committed to helping me get elected, that is really excited to finish the work that we started in 2020. And then we add to that new, deeply energized Democratic portions of the district.”

Gibbs wants to get back to ‘normal station’

Gibbs’ background is in technology. After studying computer science at Stanford University, he was among the team that worked on the first iPhone, according to his campaign. He also has a master’s degree in public administration from Harvard.

Gibbs spent seven years in Japan as a Christian missionary and is a fluent Japanese speaker. During his time at HUD, Trump nominated Gibbs to oversee the federal Office of Personnel Management. The department oversees the more than two million federal employees in the U.S.

“My heart just felt compelled to make a difference in combating the high suicide rate and other ills affecting that nation,” he said of his time in Japan during a 2020 Senate confirmation hearing for the position.

Gibbs now lives in Byron Center, a suburb minutes from Grand Rapids. He ran to the right of Meijer in the primary, heavily focusing on the incumbent’s vote to impeach Trump in the aftermath of the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol. Gibbs is one of several candidates in Michigan endorsed by Trump seeking election this fall.

At a campaign event in late September, Gibbs described the coming election as not a traditional contest between Democrats and Republicans, but a referendum on “crazy versus normal.”

“This is not 1998, where we're talking about Democrats want to raise taxes by 2 percent and Republicans want to reduce taxes by 2 percent. We are now in crazy town,” Gibbs said. “We got on the crazy train, someone hit go-forward and now we got off at crazy station and we're all standing around crazy station and wondering how to get back to normal station.”

Gibbs worked under then-U.S. HUD Secretary Dr. Ben Carson under the Trump administration. Carson ventured to Grand Rapids to stump for Gibbs on Sept. 30, telling supporters at the Kent GOP headquarters Gibbs was a Swiss Army knife at the department, helping out wherever he was needed.

“John was what we called a utility player. He could fit into any slot,” Carson said. “When a high-level person left for whatever reason, John could fill the spot and within a week, be an expert in that area.

“It didn't matter what it was. He's an incredibly bright guy. And it hurts me to say that as a ‘Yalie’ because he went to Harvard.”

Gibbs, like many other Trump-endorsed candidates, has denied the outcome of the 2020 presidential election despite no credible evidence of voter fraud. He’s vehemently against abortion, writing on his website, “While we must have compassion for all those facing an unplanned pregnancy, the right to act as one chooses does not extend to the taking of another’s innocent life.”

The Right to Life PAC of Michigan, which lists endorsement criteria for candidates as “must be pro-life with no exceptions other than life of the mother,” has endorsed Gibbs.

Gibbs’ nomination to oversee the Office of Personnel Management eventually stalled in the Senate, after CNN reported previous social media posts made by Gibbs contained Islamophobic language and shared conspiracy theories about the Democratic Party.

Gibbs, who is Black, said "I can assure you that throughout my career and throughout my life I have never tolerated, never accepted any type of discrimination,” during his nomination hearing.

Archived blog posts made by Gibbs also surfaced in September after CNN reported on them. The posts included criticisms of the women’s suffrage movement and women in the workplace. A spokesperson for Gibbs’ campaign said at the time the posts were satirical.

As the campaign cycle approaches Election Day, Gibbs, like many Republicans throughout the U.S., has focused heavily on issues that are likely plaguing Biden’s approval rating, chief among them rising costs and inflation.

“I don't see how any reasonable person would want us to keep going in the direction we're going now,” he said, before introducing Carson. “We're going to be getting out hammering that home like crazy leading up to November.”

Gibbs and Scholten have not debated yet and there currently isn't a debate scheduled. Given absentee ballots went out in late September, thousands of votes have already been cast in the district.

FiveThirtyEight has Scholten winning the contest 61 times out of 100 simulations, labeling Scholten a slight favorite.

Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 8.

— Contact Arpan Lobo: alobo@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @arpanlobo.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Redistricting may give Scholten edge over Gibbs for House seat