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Rachelle Smit

From Ballotpedia
Rachelle M. Smit
Michigan House of Representatives District 43
Tenure
2023 - Present
Term ends
2027
Years in position
3
Predecessor:Mike R. Harris (R)
Compensation
Base salary
$71,685/year
Per diem
No per diem is paid.
Elections and appointments
Last election
November 5, 2024
Personal
Birthplace
Grand Rapids, MI
Religion
Christian
Profession
Business owner
Contact

Rachelle M. Smit (Republican Party) is a member of theMichigan House of Representatives, representingDistrict 43. She assumed office on January 1, 2023. Her current term ends on January 1, 2027.

Smit (Republican Party) ran for re-election to theMichigan House of Representatives to representDistrict 43. She won in the general election onNovember 5, 2024.

Biography

Rachelle M. Smit was born inGrand Rapids, Michigan, and lives in Shelbyville, Michigan. Smit's career experience includes owning a business. She served as the Martin Township Clerk and has been affiliated with Right to Life, the NRA, and the Farm Bureau.[1][2]

Sponsored legislation

The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according toBillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.


Committee assignments

2025-2026

Smit was assigned to the following committees:

2023-2024

Smit was assigned to the following committees:


Elections

2024

See also: Michigan House of Representatives elections, 2024

General election

General election for Michigan House of Representatives District 43

IncumbentRachelle M. Smit defeatedDanene Shumaker in the general election for Michigan House of Representatives District 43 on November 5, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Rachelle M. Smit
Rachelle M. Smit (R)
 
72.1
 
39,396
Danene Shumaker (D)
 
27.9
 
15,265

Ballotpedia Logo

Incumbents arebolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 54,661
Candidate Connection = candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 43

Danene Shumaker advanced from the Democratic primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 43 on August 6, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔Danene Shumaker
 
100.0
 
3,232

Ballotpedia Logo

There were noincumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 3,232
Candidate Connection = candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 43

IncumbentRachelle M. Smit advanced from the Republican primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 43 on August 6, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Rachelle M. Smit
Rachelle M. Smit
 
100.0
 
14,486

Ballotpedia Logo

Incumbents arebolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 14,486
Candidate Connection = candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you,complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

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Campaign finance

Endorsements

Smit received the following endorsements.

  • Citizens for Traditional Values – PAC

Pledges

Smit signed the following pledges.

  • U.S. Term Limits

2022

See also: Michigan House of Representatives elections, 2022

General election

General election for Michigan House of Representatives District 43

Rachelle M. Smit defeatedMark Ludwig in the general election for Michigan House of Representatives District 43 on November 8, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Rachelle M. Smit
Rachelle M. Smit (R) Candidate Connection
 
70.8
 
30,920
Image of Mark Ludwig
Mark Ludwig (D) Candidate Connection
 
29.2
 
12,771

Ballotpedia Logo

There were noincumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 43,691
Candidate Connection = candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you,complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data?Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 43

Mark Ludwig advanced from the Democratic primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 43 on August 2, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Mark Ludwig
Mark Ludwig Candidate Connection
 
100.0
 
4,134

Ballotpedia Logo

There were noincumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 4,134
Candidate Connection = candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you,complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data?Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 43

Rachelle M. Smit defeatedLindsay Kronemeyer,Phillip Joseph, andNevin Cooper-Keel in the Republican primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 43 on August 2, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Rachelle M. Smit
Rachelle M. Smit Candidate Connection
 
49.9
 
8,854
Lindsay Kronemeyer
 
32.2
 
5,702
Phillip Joseph
 
14.9
 
2,646
Nevin Cooper-Keel
 
3.0
 
529

Ballotpedia Logo

There were noincumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 17,731
Candidate Connection = candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you,complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

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Campaign finance

Endorsements

To view Smit's endorsements in the 2022 election, pleaseclick here.

Campaign themes

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also:Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Rachelle M. Smit did not completeBallotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.

2022

Candidate Connection

Rachelle M. Smit completedBallotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Smit's responses.

Expand all |Collapse all

I am a Wife, Mother, Businesswoman and Township Clerk. I love serving my family, community and ready to step up and serve my state. I was born and raised in west Michigan, lived here my whole life. We are dairy farmers in Allegan County. I understand the operations of local government and the importance of it. I am passionate about preserving our God-given constitutional rights, protecting life and liberty at all costs.
  • Adhering and following the Constitution
  • Upholding the conservative Republican values
  • God, Family, Country
I served my family, the people that I represent and my country to the best of my ability. I will lead with integrity and honor the people I serve.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

Campaign finance summary

Ballotpedia LogoNote: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf.Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at theFEC website. Clickhere for more on federal campaign finance law andhere for more on state campaign finance law.

Rachelle M. Smit campaign contribution history
YearOfficeStatusContributionsExpenditures
2024Michigan House of Representatives District 43Won general$110,855 $0
2022Michigan House of Representatives District 43Won general$146,074 $0
Grand total$256,928 $0
Sources:OpenSecrets, Federal Elections Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).

Scorecards

See also:State legislative scorecards andState legislative scorecards in Michigan

Ascorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.

Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.

Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states.  To contribute to the list of Michigan scorecards, email suggestions toeditor@ballotpedia.org.


2024

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2024, click [show].   

In 2024, theMichigan State Legislature was in session from January 10 to December 23.

Legislators are scored on labor issues.
Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues.
Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to agriculture.
Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to environmental issues.
Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues.


2023

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2023, click [show].   

In 2023, theMichigan State Legislature was in session from January 11 to November 14.

Legislators are scored on labor issues.
Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to environmental issues.
Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.










See also


External links

Candidate

Michigan House of Representatives District 43

  • Website
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    • Officeholder

    Michigan House of Representatives District 43

  • Website
  • Facebook

    • Personal

  • LinkedIn

    • Footnotes

    1. ↑Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on May 16, 2022
    2. ↑Michigan House Republicans, "Rachelle Smit," accessed May 3, 2023

    Political offices
    Preceded by
    Mike R. Harris (R)    		Michigan House of Representatives District 43
    2023-Present    		Succeeded by
    -


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