Roughly half of the counties in Michigan’s old fourth congressional district are included in the newly drawn second district. But, Congressman John Moolenaar says he’s not worried about running in a new district that no longer includes his hometown.
For the first time in his political career, Congressman Moolenaar will be running for office without voters from the city of Midland.
Moolenaar’s recent campaign stops have taken him up the Lake Michigan shoreline in counties like Oceana, Mason and Manistee. And Moolenaar says he’s proud to be running in this new district.
“It's a strong agricultural district, a lot of agriculture diversity of different crops and livestock. For the first time, I'll represent areas that grow fruit and asparagus.”
But Moolenaar’s primary challenger, Tom Norton, a former combat veteran from Kent County, says the western part of the district gives him the edge over Moolenaar because he is from the area. He says Moolenaar lost a substantial voting block of Republican primary voters after the maps were finalized.
Michigan’s primary elections are scheduled for August second.
