Rep. John James told a group of College Republicans over lunch last month that what ails Michigan is more cultural than political.
“This culture of hopelessness that most people are feeling can be changed when we lead by example,” said the 44-year-old congressman, who represents a district north of Detroit. “The solutions we need are not political in nature. I strongly believe that leaders who will submit to the Lord and serve his people are the type of leaders that it’s going to require to change the culture in Michigan.”
James, who is running for governor of Michigan, also met with College President Larry Arnn during his visit.
“I have met the congressman a time or two before and find him talented and principled,” Arnn told The Collegian. “I was glad of the chance to speak with him again.“
James said Arnn is becoming a “mentor” to him, and he is proud to call him a friend.
“The thing I always get from Dr. Arnn is that he always challenges me in different ways,” James said. “When I see him, he is the consummate — I won’t say educator — but teacher, somebody who understands that education is about purpose and preparation and his role in bringing out what God already put in us.”
James graduated from West Point in 2004, then attended flight school and Ranger school before deploying to Iraq in 2007 as a co-pilot and gunner on AH-64 Apaches. After retiring from the Army, James returned to his family supply chain company before running for Senate unsuccessfully in 2018 and 2020. He has served as a Congressman representing Michigan’s 10th congressional district since 2023.
James announced his campaign for governor in April and led the field by nearly 40 points in a December poll by Lansing-based firm Mitchell Research. Among the other Republican candidates in the primary field is State Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt, who graduated from Hillsdale in 2001 and received the college’s Distinguished Alumnus of the Year Award in 2017 for his work in the state legislature.
At a back table in the Knorr Dining Hall, James began the lunch by asking each student about where they were from. Though a staffer brought him a bowl of salad, he never once touched the food. Instead, he spent about 45 minutes answering student questions and explaining why the Mitten State needs a revival of cultural leadership.
“I was really impressed with how down-to-earth and thoughtful Rep. James was,” said senior Josiah Jones, then-president of Hillsdale College Republicans. “Despite the fact that he was on an official college visit, he took the time to get to know each of us at the table and hear our thoughts on the future of Michigan and our country.”
The West Point graduate said he saw some of this needed cultural revival during his visit to Hillsdale, which he called “an amazing bastion of hope and future prosperity of the state of Michigan and the country.”
“On the way walking to the cafeteria — we’d call it the mess hall — we passed by the chapel, and there was a prayer group, and they sang the Lord’s Prayer, and it was a strictly voluntary thing. You go down to the cafeteria, and everybody leaves their stuff in the cubby holes. Nothing’s lost. That’s a symptom of a strong culture. That’s a symptom of a high-trust society here in Hillsdale.”
It’s these practices beyond politics that James said he hopes to help restore in Michigan, if elected governor.
“This is the type of culture that used to be pervasive all over the state in the country, but is vanishingly rare these days. It’s refreshing to be on Hillsdale’s campus, and I have to say that I learned more from the students today.”
