MINNEAPOLIS— In Michigan’s 12th congressional district, incumbent Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib, one of the original members ofThe team,” challenger James Hooper hopes to avert.
The 12th District covers much of Metro Detroit, including areas such as Livonia, Westland, Dearborn Heights, Redford Charter Township and Southfield.
Tlaib handily won the district in 2022 with 70.8% of the vote.
The candidates
Tlaib is a former social worker and Michigan state representative. She, along with fellow “Squad” member Rep. Ilhan Omar from Minnesota, one of the first Muslim women elected to Congress.
A native of Detroit, Tlaib began her term in the U.S. House of Representatives called almost immediately that then-President Trump would be impeached. He would ultimately be impeached twice while in office.
Tlaib began serving as a member of the Financial Services Committee in 2019.
Hooper is the Wayne County chairman who grew up on Detroit’s east side, see details on his campaign website, and “has served overseas in the mission field with Samaritan’s Purse in Liberia.”
Ting Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images/James Hooper for Congress
The most important issues
On the eve of her election to the U.S. House of Representatives, Tlaib identified immigration reform as her top priority.
“I went to a predominantly African-American school. I didn’t even understand our immigration system. I knew my parents had immigrated here. I think it’s hard to grow up in a community where your neighbors are directly affected. And talking about walls and separation and detaining children, I think we have dehumanized the immigration system,” Tlaib said.
Tlaib has been highly critical of the 2024 war in Gaza. She is the only Palestinian American in Congress and the US House of Representatives voted to censure her by a vote of 234 to 188, with 22 Democrats joining all but four Republicans. In an emotional speech in the House of Representatives after the vote, Tlaib said her comments about Israel were aimed at the administration and asked her colleagues who did not support a ceasefire to take into account the plight of the Palestinians.
“I can’t believe I have to say this, but Palestinian people are not disposable,” she said. “We are human, just like anyone else.”
A day after she was censured, Republicans in the Michigan Senate called for Tlaib to resign.
Hooper’s campaign materials identify him as a “liberty-minded conservative Republican,” saying he is “unapologetically PRO-LIFE from conception to natural death.” He has stood shoulder to shoulder with other Pro-Life advocates, and will continue to do so in the future. a strong and relentless voice for LIFE in the U.S. House of Representatives at this most critical time.”
He also said that the “Second Amendment is non-negotiable,” will “call for the rapid downsizing and rapid elimination of the federal Department of Education,” and that he believes “no one should be required to be ‘documented’ or receive a vaccination to have with you. passport.”
