Rep. Hillary Scholten (D-MI) has emerged in recent weeks as one of the Democratic Party’s most outspoken voices against antisemitic influencer Hasan Piker — including standing as one of the few Michigan Democratic holdouts in endorsing Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed in light of his relationship with Piker.

Her stalwart outspokenness against antisemitism and resistance to her party’s home-state Senate nominee is increasingly rare in today’s politics.  But Jewish Michiganders who have worked with her say she’s long been close with and supportive of the community, and that she’s been deeply and personally disturbed by rising antisemitism and other rhetoric from Piker and El-Sayed. 

At an event for a fellow Michigan House candidate this week, Scholten faced down a questioner who said that she was making “bad faith accusations” against El-Sayed and Piker and stoking Islamophobic hate speech in the interest of protecting U.S. aid to Israel. Scholten stood her ground.

“I do not support the comments of Hasan Piker. He has said some terrible things about America, about American troops, and I would stand by comments condemning those. I think they don’t have any place in the Democratic Party or in the United States of America,” she said. “But even though we may not necessarily be in agreement about all of those things, we are in alignment about the things that unite us as Democrats: lowering costs, delivering on universal health care, and fighting corruption.”

Speaking to reporters after the event, she said that she has not endorsed El-Sayed and hasn’t heard from him in any capacity.

“If he would [reach out to me], I would have questions,” Scholten said. “A lot of it has to do with his past associations with Hasan Piker.” 

She said she’s hearing “a lot of support” from people who agree with her raising the question of “whether this is the right direction for our party.”

Scholten was among Rep. Haley Stevens’ (D-MI) most outspoken supporters during the Senate primary, and unlike Stevens, refused to commit to voting for El-Sayed during the general election. Her decision to stick to her guns carries political risk: El-Sayed carried Scholten’s district in the Democratic primary, winning the Kent County (Grand Rapids) base by 26 points over Stevens. 

El-Sayed’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment, but largely shrugged off questions about Piker and criticisms from Scholten and other Democrats during a press conference on Wednesday.

He accused Republicans of pushing a false narrative of Democratic division and suggested that his critics are simply “still nursing wounds or grievances from the primary.”

Despite having repeatedly campaigned with Piker, El-Sayed also dismissed him as “a streamer in California” who is not central to the campaign, which he described as focused on issues in Michigan. He asserted that questions about Piker are driven by a media focus on a “tabloid version of our politics.”

Scholten declined to comment to Jewish Insider for this story. 

She was first elected in 2022, after losing a 2020 race in a GOP-leaning district against former GOP Rep. Peter Meijer. The Grand Rapids-area district was redrawn to be more favorable to Democrats two years later, and she prevailed over a hard-right Republican challenger who defeated Meijer in the GOP primary. The Cook Political Report now rates her as a shoo-in to win reelection. 

In a 2020 interview with Jewish Insider during her run for the House, Scholten did not rule out conditioning or reducing U.S. aid to Israel in the interest of serving as a neutral arbiter to pursue a two-state solution, though she also argued that the U.S. should continue to be supportive of Israel. Scholten voted earlier this year against an amendment cutting U.S. aid to Israel that was supported by nearly half of House Democrats.

She also strongly condemned the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, saying that it has “deep roots in antisemitic sentiment and rhetoric.”

Jewish Democrats in Michigan said that Scholten is a longtime ally of their community, and said that her strong stand against Piker and antisemitism is nothing new.

David Kramer, a prominent Jewish Democratic leader in the Detroit area who served as campaign chair for Stevens’ Senate race, said Scholten is “someone who has a very strong sense of self and what she thinks is right and wrong, and she has a history of speaking up, even if it’s unpopular” — pointing also to her early call for then-President Joe Biden to end his reelection campaign and her strong and early support for Stevens.

“This is another one in the pattern of her doing what she thinks is right, even when she knows she’s going to get some flak for it,” Kramer continued. “I’m absolutely, positively convinced that she’s doing this just because of what her convictions are and her gut reaction.”

He said he’s heard from Scholten directly that even her staff have warned her about the potential consequences of the stand she has taken on Piker and El-Sayed, but that she feels strongly that this is an issue of right and wrong.

Kramer said that Scholten has come to him on various occasions about her concerns that El-Sayed and Piker’s comments and activity will cause insecurity in the Jewish community — “she just gets it.”

He added that, while Scholten is close with the small Jewish community in Grand Rapids as well as with Jewish leaders in the Detroit area, her positions come from her own deeply held values. 

“She is a very, very smart, very, very principled person who is willing to speak the truth and is willing to take stands even if it is not something that others would say will help her politically, and that is really unusual today in politics,” Mark LoPatin, another Detroit-area Jewish Democrat who has interacted with Scholten, said. “She is one of the few who is really willing to get out there to say, ‘This is wrong,’ and why she believes it’s wrong.”

LoPatin said that Scholten may very well face a more difficult primary race in 2028 as a result of her outspokenness and has told supporters that she has faced backlash for her stances, but that she does not plan to back down.

“We should have more congressional leaders that are willing to do that,” he said. “We probably wouldn’t be in the position that we’re in right now.”

Michael Horowitz, another Detroit-area Jewish Democrat, said he got to know Scholten through Stevens and her campaign at joint events they held together. “She just fits a category of intelligent, caring people who are trying to do good … they approach their job with the goal of trying to get things done.”

He said that Scholten is someone who “sees right and wrong” and was “particularly offended” by the attacks leveled against Stevens in the primary, as well as against state Sen. Jeremy Moss, a House candidate whom Piker attacked by name in recent comments that have drawn particular criticism.

“This isn’t a political calculation, she sees it as wrong,” Horowitz said. “It’s just a person who’s a decent person, cares about right and wrong. I think it just upset her. … I don’t see any agenda here, other than people that she’s close to have been attacked, and … she doesn’t buy into it. This isn’t who she is, and she’s willing to say something.”

Kramer said that, having known Scholten for several years, he believes her convictions on antisemitism are authentic and deeply rooted. He also noted that she’s an active member of her church and “someone of a lot of faith,” and said he believes that some of her dedication to the issue of antisemitism comes through her faith, though he said he hasn’t asked her the question directly.

LoPatin agreed that Scholten’s stance seems to be a product of her moral character, and said that quality means he’ll continue to support her even if he disagrees with particular stances she may take. “I do know that she will have a thoughtful response to whatever those issues are.”

Kramer also emphasized that, despite having not endorsed El-Sayed, Scholten remains committed to helping Democrats up and down the ballot in Michigan win in November — a commitment Scholten expressed herself at the event earlier this week.