“I’m running for Congress because we need a leader who is committed to putting forth common-sense solutions to the pressing problems facing West Michigan. From a healthcare system strained by a pandemic, to the rising cost of goods, to an organized assault on our democracy, we need a proven leader who will roll up her sleeves to help working families, and who will do what’s right, not what’s easy.”

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EXPERIENCE

Scholten graduated from Gordon College and the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law.[  She was a judicial law clerk and attorney adviser for the U.S. Department of Justice Board of Immigration Appeals from 2013 to 2017. From 2017-2019, she was a staff attorney for the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center, where she worked on the growing immigration crisis, to protect Michigan families, and to defend our Constitution. She was a volunteer attorney for Times Up Legal Defense Fund, an organization providing legal services to women facing sexual harassment in the workplace. Since 2021 she has been Senior Counsel at Miller Johnson in Grand Rapids.

 

ON THE ISSUES 

Healthcare

The American healthcare system features some of the world’s greatest advancements in technology and pharmaceutical research, but for too many the system is broken. I’ll work hard

• to bring down the costs of healthcare and lower the cost of prescription drugs

• to ban insurance companies from raising rates on people when they get sick, denying people coverage for having a pre-existing condition or dropping them when they get sick

• to prevent insurance companies from increasing premiums and deductibles while reducing coverage

• for paid family and medical leave

•  to cap the cost of critical prescription drugs and insulin

• to defend the Affordable Care Act and work every day to expand on it

 

Jobs + the Economy

We can – and we must – continue fighting to create well-paying jobs with good benefits in West Michigan. We need:

• to invest in Michigan’s semiconductor manufacturing capability

• to fight for fair wages and the right for workers to collectively bargain

• to invest in small businesses

 

Education

My mom was a special education teacher in Grand Rapids Public Schools – growing up, I saw what a good, public education could mean, especially for families struggling to get by. As a mom of two school-aged kids myself now, I see firsthand every day how important it is that we refocus our efforts to build up our classrooms.  I will work:

• to ensure that educators are compensated fairly and get the support they need 

• to support opportunities for learning from pre-k to affordable college

• to create and expand job training, apprenticeship programs, and skilled trade programs

 

Social Security + Medicare

We have to live up to the promise of Social Security and Medicare. My focus will be: 

• to make these programs more efficient by cracking down on waste, fraud, and abuse

• to let Medicare negotiate drug prices.

 

Energy + Environment

Being good stewards of the environment means both creating jobs and keeping our state – and our families – safe from dangerous pollution. I will work:

• to protect our drinking water from PFAS and other toxic chemicals

• to curb climate change before it’s too late

• to defend of our Great Lakes

• to invest in a new energy economy with tax credits for renewable energy innovations to create good paying jobs while reducing our reliance on foreign oil and lowering the cost of energy for all of us

 

Voting Rights + Democracy Protection

The right to vote and the integrity of our elections–the very foundations of our democracy–are under attack.It has never been of greater consequence that we stand up against these attacks by passing federal legislation to secure our democracy and defend the right to vote, including:

• to end voter suppression and expanding vote-by-mail and early-vote nationwide

• to end partisan gerrymandering

• to protect against attempts to subvert or overturn the results of our elections

 

MICHIGAN POLITICS

The 3rd Congressional District has recently been redrawn, as happens every 10 years in Michigan. This district has been a Republican stronghold since 1974; it is now deemed toss-up. The House seat is currently held by Republican Peter Meijer, first elected in 2020, when he beat Scholten In 2020, Trump beat Biden 50.6% to 47.4% in the old configuration of the district. 

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Meijer was one of 10 Republicans who voted to impeach Trump. In an upset, Trump back John Gibbs defeated Meijer in the Michigan Republican primary. Gibbs is a former Trump appointee to the Department of Housing and Urban Development. He is a vocal in his denial of the 2020 presidential election results.