Terri DeBoer, a 61-year-old former meteorologist and mother of three, is positioning herself as the common-sense conservative challenger who can flip Michigan’s Third Congressional District back to Republican control after decades of GOP dominance ended in 2022.
Fresh off her Republican primary win, DeBoer told Fox News Digital that voters in West Michigan are ready for a change from Dem. Rep. Hillary Scholten’s voting record.
“The one thing that we’re really hearing over and over again is people are ready for a change,” DeBoer said. “They are ready to be represented by someone who shares the same common sense West Michigan values as they do, and I’m the best candidate to fill the bill.”
“People are working harder than ever before and feeling like they’re falling behind everything.”
DeBoer worked for television stations in western Michigan over a 30-year career before entering the race. She’s running as a self-described outsider against an incumbent she says campaigns as a moderate but votes far-left in Congress.
The challenger pointed to Scholten’s vote against the SAVE America Act and her support for allowing transgender athletes in girls’ sports as evidence of that disconnect. According to U.S. House voting records, Scholten voted against a bill that would ban transgender women and girls from competing on female school sports teams in January 2025.
“I believe the biggest point of contrast, quite frankly, is that for the last few campaign cycles she has campaigned as though she’s a very moderate individual, and yet her voting record in Congress is in stark contrast to that,” DeBoer said.
DeBoer’s platform centers on affordability — rising costs for groceries, energy, housing, and healthcare dominate voter concerns in the district. Her campaign website lists securing the border, expanding healthcare choice, supporting reliable energy, and reducing small-business regulations among her priorities.
To bring costs down, DeBoer called for cutting “reckless” federal spending and eliminating government waste, fraud, and abuse.
“We really need to make America affordable again,” she said.
DeBoer also pushed back against the idea that far-left progressive Abdul El-Sayed’s narrow Senate primary victory last week signals growing support for a progressive agenda in Michigan. El-Sayed defeated Rep. Haley Stevens in one of the nation’s most closely watched Democratic primaries.
“What I hear when I knock on doors, when I walk down the street, when I’m at the grocery store, people say, ‘Thank you. Thank you for being willing to step forward in a common sense way to represent our values, because quite simply, the other side is no longer representing the values of West Michigan,'” she said.
DeBoer argues that the Democratic Party has lost its way and is aligning with candidates who undermine what “makes America so great.”
“I believe that when people truly understand what is at stake here, the very future of America and the freedoms that we have enjoyed, that I think the choice is very clear,” she said.
The Third Congressional District was held by Republicans for decades before Scholten seized it in 2022. DeBoer believes voters are ready to return the seat to GOP hands in 2026.
Fox News Digital reached out to Scholten’s campaign for comment.
