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“As a mother and the first woman to ever represent West Michigan in the House, Hillary Scholten has been a relentless advocate for her community and working families. In Congress, she’s cleaning up her communities’ drinking water and continuing the work she started at the Department of Justice to secure the southern border, while standing firm against MAGA extremists who want to ban abortion nationwide. Paul Hudson, meanwhile, built his career selling out West Michigan. He has proven himself willing to represent anyone for the right price, which is why voters will reject him at the ballot box and reelect Hillary Scholten,” said DCCC Chair Suzan DelBene.
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To: Interested Parties
From: Aidan Johnson
Date: August 6, 2024
Subject: The Case Against Paul Hudson
A fifth-generation West Michigander, Hillary Scholten has spent her life focused on serving her community and creating more opportunities for hardworking Michigan families. That’s why, in her first term, Hillary secured millions of dollars in job training programs for students, provided much needed tax relief for middle-class Michiganders, and led the fight to clean up West Michigan’s water.
Before representing Michigan’s 3rd Congressional District, Hillary worked for President Obama in the Department of Justice to enforce immigration laws and, in Congress, she is using her experience to work with both Democrats and Republicans to secure the Southern border. Hillary worked across the aisle to introduce the Dignity Act, which would address border security and infrastructure challenges, tackle critical workforce development issues, and create a program for law-abiding undocumented immigrants already living in the United States to earn legal status.
Throughout his career, Paul Hudson has sold out West Michiganders. As a corporate lawyer, he made hundreds of thousands of dollars representing companies owned by the Chinese Communist Party that threatened our national security and by representing big corporations that screwed over working class families. Now, he’s running for office with a plan to gut Social Security and Medicare, and if elected, he would partner with anti-abortion extremists who want to ban abortion nationwide. Paul Hudson will represent anyone for the right price, and it’s clear he’s too dangerous to represent West Michigan.
Hudson Sold Out To China
Paul Hudson made hundreds of thousands of dollars at a big corporate law firm that represented an auto company owned by the Chinese Communist Party, and was one of the chief attorneys defending Yubei (Xinxiang) Power Steering System Co. in a 2015 lawsuit against a Michigan company. Yubei Power Steering was a subsidiary of a Chinese-owned defense company “that has faced multiple espionage investigations, including accusations the firm stole secret F-35 information to incorporate into Chinese aircraft.”
Even after the company tried to buy up and take control of multiple Michigan auto companies, Hudson decided that collecting a paycheck was more important than standing up to the Chinese Communist Party and ensuring West Michigan’s safety and security.
Hudson Sold Out To Billionaires And Big Corporations
In politics, it’s important to follow the money, and when it comes to Paul Hudson’s finances, all signs point to him selling out to billionaires and big corporations. Hudson got rich working as a lawyer helping big corporations boost their profits by cheating everyday Americans. Now, he’s supporting a plan to give big corporations and the wealthiest Americans a trillion dollar tax break at the expense of the middle class and paying for it with cuts to Social Security and Medicare.
The corporate lawyer has pocketed thousands of dollars from Betsy DeVos’ family for his campaign, which spent hundreds of millions of dollars in Michigan trying to gut public schools. According to The Detroit News, it’s possible that Hudson is illegally coordinating with a Super PAC backed by a California tech billionaire. The shady deal has prompted calls for a federal probe.
Hudson Sold Out To Anti-Abortion Extremists
During his run for the state Supreme Court, Hudson was more than willing to sell out to an extreme organization that supports banning abortion both in Michigan and nationwide. Michigan Right To Life, which endorsed Hudson, opposed Michigan’s ballot measure that enshrined reproductive rights in the state’s constitution – which passed with more than 57% of the vote in MI-03. Hudson has also endorsed JD Vance on the campaign trail, only further amplifying his allegiance to an anti-abortion agenda that includes a near-total abortion ban with no exceptions for rape or incest.
While Republicans like Paul Hudson and his far-right allies in Congress continue their work to undermine these fundamental reproductive freedoms, Hillary Scholten is a proud supporter of the Women’s Health Protection Act, which would codify access to reproductive health care into federal law.
Hillary knows that it is West Michigan families, not politicians, who should decide when they want to start and grow their families. That’s why she has cosponsored legislation to protect IVF and to make Roe v. Wade once again the law of the land. She is leading the fight to prevent MAGA extremists, like Paul Hudson, from passing a nationwide abortion ban and we need her in Congress to continue that fight.
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
WGHN: Rep. Scholten Named “Fiscal Hero” for Bipartisan Work to Rein in Government Spending [WGHN, 5/2/24]
The Grand Haven Tribune: Rep. Scholten presents Harbor Transit with $16.2 million grant [The Grand Haven Tribune, 7/17/24]
FOX 17: Rep. Scholten co-sponsors bill to combat immigration court backlog, protect migrant children [FOX 17, 11/1/23]
Detroit News: Michigan U.S. House incumbents mount large war chests for reelection [Detroit News, 4/16/24]
In the race for west Michigan’s 3rd District, Democratic U.S. Rep. Hillary Scholten of Grand Rapids continues to lead all Republican contenders in fundraising, spending and cash on hand.
Scholten, a first-term lawmaker, raised nearly $643,000 in the first quarter of the year and has about $1.8 million in cash on hand. Those amounts are more than the entire field of Republican hopefuls in the district combined.
Roll Call: For Hillary Scholten, faith (and Jerry Ford) led the way to Congress [Roll Call, 9/14/23]
The Trucker: Shattering Stereotypes: Hillary Scholten is a driving force for trucking on Capitol Hill [The Trucker, 3/8/24]
FOX 17: $1M going toward renovations for Grand Rapids childcare facility [FOX 17, 3/14/24]
FOX 17: Rep. Scholten announces $1.3M for clean energy projects in Kent, Ottawa counties [FOX 17, 4/4/24]
Fox News: GOP candidate for swing House district once defended Chinese company in lawsuit [Fox News, 6/6/24]
Michigan-based attorney Paul Hudson, who is running in the GOP primary for Michigan’s 3rd Congressional District, served as one of the attorneys defending Yubei (Xinxiang) Power Steering Sys. Co., in a 2015 lawsuit filed by Global Technology Inc., a Michigan company.
Yubei (Xinxiang) Power Steering is a subsidiary of the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), a defense contractor owned by the Chinese Communist Party that has faced multiple espionage investigations, including accusations the firm stole secret F-35 information to incorporate into Chinese aircraft.
Detroit News: Michigan congressional candidate’s brother bankrolling super PAC aiding his campaign [Detroit News, 4/17/24]
On Tuesday, West Michigan for Change filed its first quarterly fundraising report with the Federal Election Commission that initially listed $1 million coming from the Paul Hudson Revocable Trust. That was the only contribution the super PAC had received to date.
Such a contribution from candidate Paul Hudson of East Grand Rapids may have constituted an illegal instance of a super PAC coordinating with a political candidate.
Detroit News: Michigan Dems want probe into ties between Grand Rapids Republican, super PAC [Detroit News, 6/6/2024]
If the Federal Election Commission determines there was a violation, it could result in monetary penalties to the Hudson campaign and the super PAC, or a mere letter to the groups reiterating their compliance obligations.
PATH TO VICTORY
In 2022, Hillary Scholten ran and won in Michigan’s newly-redrawn 3rd Congressional District, defeating her opponent by 13.4-points and becoming the first Democrat since 1977 to represent West Michigan. This cycle, she is well on her way to another victory. Hillary currently holds more than a 7:1 cash-on-hand advantage over Paul Hudson who has struggled to draw the fundraising support he needs from Republicans in Washington.
Since Trump’s election in 2016, the district has trended heavily in Democrats’ direction. West Michiganders codified reproductive rights in the state’s constitution by a 14-point margin. The district’s portion of Kent County lurched to the left by 5.2 points from 2016 to 2020, powering wins for Democrats up and down the ticket. Grand Rapids and the city’s suburbs have consolidated around Hillary Scholten, a fifth-generation West Michigander. They know she’s someone who will work across the aisle to lower costs for working families, fix our broken immigration system, and protect women’s reproductive freedoms, and they’ll send her back to Congress this November to continue her work.
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