Stark Differences Over Crime Define Key Congressional Race in Michigan

Crime may prove to be the deciding factor in the race to fill the open congressional seat in western Michigan.

“There have been four recent shootings in Grand Rapids. People don’t feel safe,” said Republican nominee John Gibbs in an Oct. 7, 2022, sit-down interview with The Epoch Times.

“I believe the explosion of violence across America is a result of the Democrat policies of defunding the police and cashless bail.”

Gibbs alleges his Democrat opponent, Hillary Scholten, is “soft on crime.”

In a written statement to The Epoch Times, Gibbs’s campaign alleged that Scholten gave hundreds of dollars to the Progressive Women’s Alliance of West Michigan and to Equity PAC, both of which “support defunding the police.”

Gibbs also alleged in the statement that Scholten removed from her 2022 campaign website the criminal justice reform section that showed her support for bail reform.

“Scholten’s views do not match up with the views of the people of this district. She’s out of step,” said Gibbs in the interview.

GOP congressional candidate John Gibbs in his Grand Rapids, Michigan headquarters, on Oct. 7, 2022. (Steven Kovac/The Epoch Times)

Scholten did not respond to a request for an interview by The Epoch Times.

Her campaign website accuses Republicans of mounting “an assault on our democracy” and of engaging in “voter suppression.”

According to her website, Scholten favors expanding mail-in and early voting nationwide.

Though Scholten is strongly pro-abortion, her campaign website touts her commitment and service to the Christian Reformed Church she attends.

According to its website, the Christian Reformed Church is officially pro-life and calls on all of its members to “speak out against the atrocity of abortion.”

On the subject of education, Scholten supports expanded vocational training and apprenticeships.

She acknowledged on her website that two years of the COVID-19

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