Anthony Hudson probably has the most unique background of all the candidates running to replace Democratic Congressman Dan Kildee in Michigan’s 8th congressional district.
Kildee is retiring after serving in Congress since 2013.
Before running for Congress, the Republican candidate ran an independent third-party presidential campaign for the upcoming general election. He dropped out after being unable to get on the ballot in all 50 states.
No matter the election, Hudson’s reason for running is the same.
“It's obvious that our government has turned their back on the American people. We tend to be more concerned about what's happening all over the world while our country is decaying in front of us,” Hudson said.
He defines this decay as American politics becoming more about the world around us and losing focus on domestic issues. This “America First” mentality defines the platform he is running on.
Hudson said that he will close the border, secure schools, restore law and order, regulating some industries while deregulating others. Standing on top of all of his domestic policies is immigration.
“We do need to secure our southern border and our Michigan borders from the illegals that are coming into our state. We have to make sure that we incorporate the laws in this country to make sure everyone's here legally,” Hudson said.
When asked if he would have supported the failed comprehensive immigration bill from February, Hudson said he would not have voted for it. He says the bill had too much funding for Ukraine and Israel and not enough on the border itself.
“I think that the war in Ukraine needs to come to an end as far as American support. They have been dragging this out. We're sending our ammunitions, we're sending our dollars over to Ukraine and there's no end insight,” Hudson said.
Hudson said he still believes in supporting the defense of Israel but does not want to extend those funds to other potential conflicts in the Middle East.
Hudson also defines "America First" as promoting American jobs for Americans and reducing the influence of foreign entities.
The example Hudson cites is the continued debate over an electric vehicle battery plant near Big Rapids, whose parent company is based in China.
"Michigan wasn't made in China and we don't need the Chinese coming into our state building EV battery plants. The jobs that we need to create in this country should be for American hard-working people and that plant was not doing that," Hudson said.
Hudson is facing former Dow executive Mary Draves and lawyer Paul Junge for the GOP nomination in the August 6 primary.
