WXMI — Michigan's Congressional Districts were recently redrawn, as they usually are every ten years to reflect population changes.
With those changes come some interesting races for the U.S. House in the midterm elections, including the race to represent Michigan's 2nd Congressional District.
FOX 17 morning anchor Ruta Ulcinaite sat down with incumbent Republican John Moolenaar who is running to represent the district.
The Congressman has represented Michigan's old 4th Congressional District for seven years now, and is running in the new district, as the districts were rearranged.
The 2nd Congressional District covers rural West Michigan and goes all the way to the lakeshore. Congressman Moolenar says the issues that affect the people of that district, are hitting all of America.
"The fourth district, which I currently represent, was split up into four different areas. The second district was comprised of five different congressional districts, and so the lines are completely different," Moolenaar said about the rearrangement of the districts.
He says even though the makeup of the district is different, he's excited to have the opportunity to continue serving Michigan.
"I think it's a great district, and I am so excited about it. A lot of it's getting to know people in different towns. Every community's a little different," Congressman Moolenar said.
Moolenaar says, no matter the district, all of Michigan is going through a tough time.
"What I'm hearing is what we're hearing all over the country, and that is, the cost of living increases. When you consider gasoline, food, groceries, the cost to heat your home, it has dramatically increased. This 40-year high of inflation has really hit people hard."
Congressman Moolenaar attended Hope College and Harvard University. He was a chemist before entering politics. From being on city council in Midland, to representing at the state level and then the federal level, he's kept busy for the past several decades. He says the reason he continues to run for office is to continue helping people.
"Also, I'm just concerned about the direction of our country. I feel like in these last couple of years, we're really heading down a path that is not good for our country," Moolenaar said. "I want to make sure we do everything we can to restore a better direction for our country."
That direction, Moolenaar says, includes abolishing abortion with exceptions to protect the life of the mother, upholding and even strengthening gun rights and growing the economy.
"I believe we can have a Republican majority in the house, which I think would really help us move in a better direction as a country," he added.
Congressman Moolenaar says he'll accept the results of this election. In 2020 he went to the courts to try to prove the 2020 election was stolen, all of which the courts found no evidence of. Eventually, he did vote to certify the results of the 2020 election.
"That's a concern when you have people covering up windows in places where they're counting votes, and it's supposed to be a transparent process. Those are all concerns. I brought those concerns to the forefront of the courts. They chose not to rule on those," he said.
You can read more about the Democratic challenger looking to represent the 2nd Congressional District, Jerry Hilliard, here.
