Democrat Jessica Swartz has announced another run for Congress in the Fourth District.
The Kalamazoo attorney ran against Republican Congressman Bill Huizenga in the last election, losing 55% to 43%. However, Swartz said Wednesday new tariffs from the Trump administration and backed by congressional Republicans “are drastically increasing prices on Michiganders at the worst possible time.”
On a podcast with the Kalamazoo County Democratic Party last year, Swartz said she wants to serve in Washington while listening to all of her constituents.
“I believe that the representative should represent all the people in the district, even those that they disagree with,” Swartz said. “At the very least, listen to the people that they disagree with, because you never know where the good ideas are going to come from. They could come from anywhere, and Huizenga has made it clear that he does not.”
Swartz said she noticed something disturbing when campaigning last time.
“The first question people say is, are you Democrat or Republican? To me, that’s a little disturbing because I’ll even say, ‘Well, have any questions I can answer for you about me or my campaign?’ ‘Nope. You’re Democrat. That’s all I need to know.’ And that actually does bother me.”
Swartz grew up in Grand Rapids, went to MSU, went to law school in Washington, and worked as an attorney for the Veterans Administration before coming back to Michigan. Swartz raised more than $1 million running the last time and says she improved on the 2022 performance of Democrats over Republicans in the district.
