Who's In the Race

Rep. Hillary Scholten (D-MI) faces Republican Terri DeBoer, a former West Michigan broadcast meteorologist, in Michigan's 3rd District on Nov. 3. Green Party candidate Joe Jock is also on the ballot. ​

Scholten is a fourth-generation West Michigander, attorney, former social worker and immigration attorney who previously served in the U.S. Department of Justice.

DeBoer spent more than 30 years in broadcast meteorology, working at WWMT-TV, WOOD-TV and FOX 17, and served on the Mental Health Foundation of West Michigan board for decades, helping create its "Be Nice" initiative.

What They Stand For

In an Oct. 6 interview with News Channel 3 (WWMT), DeBoer said she would not support an unbalanced budget and criticized Scholten's vote against the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act.

According to the MLive/League of Women Voters candidate questionnaire, Scholten has supported extending the enhanced Affordable Care Act premium tax credits and expanding rural access to health providers, saying the subsidies are "essential to keeping coverage affordable"; she has also supported capping patients' out-of-pocket prescription drug costs and protecting local hospitals' eligibility for drug discounts, per her House website. She has favored lowering everyday household costs through stronger wages and reducing childcare, housing and prescription-drug expenses, backed energy-efficiency upgrades, a modernized electric grid and a diverse mix of energy sources, and argued that due-process and free-speech rights apply to everyone, saying "No person should be deprived of liberty or property without fair procedures."

According to her campaign website, DeBoer has supported expanding health-care choice through Direct Primary Care and Health Savings Accounts along with increased price transparency, and has favored tax cuts and lower government spending to fight inflation with fewer regulations for small businesses. She has backed an "all-of-the-above" energy strategy that includes expanded nuclear power and grid modernization, opposing energy mandates she says raise utility bills. On immigration, she has supported securing the border, enforcing immigration laws and removing dangerous criminals who enter illegally; the MLive/League of Women Voters questionnaire also shows she has favored deporting asylum seekers who did not apply in the first safe country they entered.

Jock has supported publicly owned health-care distribution and proposed phasing renewable-energy installations into federal, state, corporate and residential buildings, according to the MLive/League of Women Voters questionnaire.

Race Outlook: Ratings and Betting Markets

The Cook Political Report rated the race "Solid Democratic" as of Oct. 9; Sabato's Crystal Ball also rated it "Solid Democratic" as of Oct. 11; Inside Elections rated it "Likely Democratic" as of Oct. 2. On Kalshi, traders gave Democrats, whose nominee is Scholten, a 94.87 percent chance of winning as of Oct. 12.

Scholten carried the district with about 55 percent in 2022 and about 54 percent in 2024. Statewide, Democrats won seven of Michigan's 13 U.S. House seats in 2022 and six in 2024. Republican Donald Trump carried Michigan in the 2024 presidential race with about 50 percent of the vote.

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