Incumbent Peter Meijer and John Gibbs are running in the Republican primary for Michigan’s 3rd Congressional District on August 2, 2022. The winner of the primary will face Hillary Scholten (D) in the November general election.
Meijer was one of 10 Republicans who voted to impeach President Donald Trump (R) following the breach of the U.S. capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Trump endorsed Gibbs in this primary.
Regarding his impeachment vote, Meijer said, “I take the oath I swore to the Constitution, an oath I took under God, seriously and voted accordingly,” adding that he was focused on “checking the policies of the Biden Administration so that we can serve West Michigan families.”
Gibbs said, “By voting to impeach President Trump … [Republican in Name Only] Peter Meijer chose to be fawned over by the media & the DC establishment instead of doing what’s right & representing those who voted for him.”
Meijer was first elected to represent the 3rd District in 2020. Before entering office, Meijer worked as a conflict analyst in Afghanistan and served in the U.S. Army Reserves from 2008 to 2016. Meijer said he would “bring strong, stable, and effective representation to West Michigan” and described the three key issues of his campaign as protecting constitutional rights, economic freedom, and national security.
Gibbs worked as a software engineer and joined the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development as a senior advisor in 2017 before Trump appointed him acting assistant secretary for community planning and development in 2020. Gibbs said, “No one else has fought in Washington like I have under President Trump,” and that he would “[reduce] government largess and overreach which threatens civil rights, civil liberties and our way of life.”
The 3rd District lines were redrawn during redistricting after the 2020 census. Previously, the district extended from Grand Rapids to the south and east. During redistricting, the district was drawn to include Grand Rapids to the west, including towns like Grand Haven and Muskegon. Michigan Radio‘ Nisa Khan and Emma Ruberg wrote that the change made the district more Democratic-leaning, saying it “could help Democrats swing this district for the first time in 45 years.”
As of July 5, three election forecasters rated the general election as a Toss-up.
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