Pence, Buttigieg stump for West Michigan candidates before Election Day

(WXMI) — Two Hoosiers made a lot of noise in West Michigan on Friday.

Both Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and former Vice President Mike Pence stumped for their respective party candidates.

"I’m really excited about this style of leadership that she represents," Buttigieg said while standing next to Hillary Scholten who he was in town campaigning for. "She’s fourth generation in this region. She's somebody deeply rooted in the community, has experience in law and law enforcement, and that is so important at a time right now where we’re all thinking about public safety. She somebody who has viewed her faith not as a way to separate or divide but as a calling to serve her community."

Buttigieg and Scholten met with Fox 17 on Friday morning before taking the stage at the 'Get Out The Vote' rally at the democrats headquarters on Fuller Street.

"I got to meet, know Pete on the campaign trail in 2020 and it was an instant connection," Scholten said. "I didn’t know a Christian and democrat until I was a senior in high school. Seeing someone so high-profiled being able to show people that there's a different way to integrate your faith into public service."

Scholten is running against Republican candidate John Gibbs for the newly-drawn 3rd Congressional District. Buttigieg said she's the best for that seat because she believes in Democratic values like protecting medicare, social security, and reproductive rights.

"I think a lot of Michigan voters may feel like this is the center of the political universe right now," Buttigieg said. "And I think it’s because this has always been a state and region of people who think for themselves, who aren’t going to automatically run for one ticket or the other."

Buttigieg and Scholten spoke for 15 minutes and then he hit the road to make additional stops in the Detroit-area.

An hour south, down U.S. Route 131, is where Pence was making his entry into Traveler's Cafe and Pub in Portage.

"I’m here because Michigan and America need Congressman Bill Huizenga in a republican-majority in the House of Representatives," Pence said to reporters after the event. "We served at a time when this nation went through great challenges. As your vice president, I worked closely with Congressman Huizenga at a time that we rebuilt our military. We revived our economy."

Huizenga, the incumbent, is vying against democrat and U.S. Marine Corps veteran Jospeh Alfonso for the newly-drawn 4th District. He and Pence took the stage together urging voters to remember the democrats record when heading to the polls.

"Today we stand here in Michigan with inflation at a 40-year high. Gasoline prices through the roof. Families are hurting," Pence said to reporters. "And Bill Huizenga understands what I understand that first and foremost we’ve got to see the security of this nation [and] secure our border deal, with the crime wave. We’ve also got to advance policies that are going to lift the burden of inflation and the high cost of energy on working families."

Election Day is on Tuesday November 8th. Rep. Huizenga urged voters not to waste the day but to make their voices heard at the polls.

"We cannot afford to have any voters sit on the sidelines, whether they’re people of faith, people of a different belief," he said. "It's time to come out and change our state, change our country."

***FOX 17 will bring full coverage all day Tuesday with teams in Grand rapids and Detroit.***

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