Douglas Smith

GRAND RAPIDS, MI - Incumbent U.S. Rep. Justin Amash and his Democratic challenger, Douglas M. Smith Jr., are running low-key campaigns in the race for Michigan's 3rd District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.

While they have tentatively scheduled a debate for Oct. 27, they have not yet settled on a time and place. With a month before the election, neither candidate has sent out extensive campaign mailings nor widely distributed yard signs.

Smith, a sheet metal worker who is making his first run for public office, said his top priority is getting big money out of politics. Leading by example, the Belmont resident is spending almost no money on his campaign.

"Our top priority is to get big money out of politics. I intend to portray that through my actions as well," Smith told Mlive.com and The Grand Rapids Press.

Federal campaign finance records showed Smith's campaign had $1,160 on hand by June 30 after collecting $8,157 while spending less than $7,000.

By contrast, Amash's campaign reported having $314,312 on hand after collecting $561,182 in contributions and spending $532, 697 in the previous 18 months.

It's a big contrast from former elections for Amash, a Cascade Township Republican who is running for a fourth term in the seat he captured in 2010 as a 30-year-old maverick.

In 2014, Amash fought off a vigorous primary challenge from Republican Brian Ellis, who argued Amash was ineffective in representing his district in Washington. In the previous two elections, he fought well-organized and well-funded Democratic challenges.

Amash, a libertarian-leaning member of the Freedom Caucus, relishes his maverick role. He has been a leading advocate on civil liberty issues and has been a proponent of balanced federal budgets.

"When I entered Congress, I swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution, and I have followed through on that promise," said Amash in his campaign statement on Mlive.com's Voter's Guide.



"The political elites of both parties don't like what I'm doing. They have a vision of government that is very different from the vision laid out in the Constitution," said Amash, who claims a perfect voting record in the House and posts explanations for every vote on his Facebook Page.

Theodore Gerrard, a U.S. Taxpayers party candidate who has entered state and congressional races over the past three election cycles, also is on the ballot.