Hillary Scholten

A dedicated fighter for justice and equality

Rep. Hillary Scholten serves in Michigan’s 3rd Congressional District to expand opportunity for all West Michiganders. Growing up, Scholten was inspired by her parents — a special education teacher and local sports reporter — to give back to her community, and to stand up and do something about injustices she saw around her. An invested member of her church and her community, she has lived her values by dedicating her career to service. Scholten earned a degree in social work and became a case worker for members of the LGBTQ+ community who faced housing discrimination. She then went to law school and clerked for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit before working for the Department of Justice under President Obama. In 2017, appalled by the unjust policies of the new administration, she returned home to Michigan and joined the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center as an attorney, and volunteered with the Times Up Legal Defense Fund, offering her legal expertise to those whom the system has left behind and ignored. She has also been a vocal advocate for immigrant child workers working dangerous jobs in poor conditions and has called for an interagency task force to be developed to prevent future exploitation. Rep. Scholten and her husband live in Grand Rapids, Michigan with their two young sons, in the same neighborhood where her grandparents grew up.

A champion for Michigan’s working families

Rep. Scholten is committed to expanding economic opportunity for western Michigan working families. She serves on the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and the Committee on Small Business. She has the courage, work ethic, and commitment to her community that it will take to advocate for them in Congress. “I’m an unflinching optimist, and I believe we can come together to make our communities safer and more just for all,” she said in her first floor speech, as she honored the lives of Michiganders who lost their lives to gun violence and called for change. When news about the exploitation of migrant children in Grand Rapids broke, Rep. Scholten immediately pushed for the creation of an inter-agency task force between the Department of Labor and the Department of Health and Human Services to address child labor practices and is working with the Biden administration to address this crisis. “As an attorney who has spent my entire career fighting to make our immigration system more just, fair, and humane, and as a mother, I will not stand by as this tragedy continues,” she has said. “These are my constituents, these are my kids. And I’ll protect them with everything I have.”

A must-win fight in a battleground state

In 2022, Rep. Scholten flipped this seat in a traditionally Republican part of this perennial swing state by mounting a formidable grassroots campaign. In 2024, turnout here will have implications for control of the House as well as Michigan’s open Senate seat and the presidential election. Let’s show this pro-choice champion the full support of the EMILYs List community and help reelect this champion for West Michigan families.