Our coffee with the Chair is a casual event where all fellow Republicans can talk about important issues while enjoying some free coffee and donuts.

Join us to hear the Chairman's Report from John Schaut.

Guest Speaker 

Representative Gina Johnsen

Rep. Gina Johnsen was first elected to the Michigan House of Representatives in November 2022.

She represents the 78th District, which covers the townships of Lowell and Bowne, and the cities of Lowell and Alto in Kent County.

Johnsen holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Wellesley College in Wellesley, MA.

Gina is a devout Christian and was the director of the Michigan House of Prayer for 12 years. She owns a small insurance business and spent 17 years of her career with Otsuka Pharmaceuticals as a program manager.

She is active in grassroots politics and in her community, having worked with human trafficking survivor support organization Sak Saum, as well as Crosswalk Teen Center, Forgotten Man Ministries, Protect Life MI, Hannah’s House for young expecting mothers, and Shared Pregnancy Women’s Center.

Keynote Speaker 

Paul Hudson, Republican candidate for Michigan Congressional District 3

Paul Hudson is a homegrown Michigander and longtime resident of West Michigan. Born in 1982, he grew up in Metro Detroit, where his father worked for Chrysler while his mother worked nights as a doctor in the ER. He was one of six children, four brothers and one sister. Paul is the grandson of Michigan State’s College Football Hall of Famer, Duffy Daugherty, who was a pioneer of racially integrating college football and won two national championships with the Spartans.

After high school, Paul attended Cornell where he played catcher for the baseball team. Soon after, he graduated Cum Laude from Georgetown Law and then served as a law clerk for the United States Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. Following his time in the Federal Court System, Paul went on to become a senior partner at Michigan’s oldest and most prominent law firm, Miller Canfield, and serves as the firm’s Chair of Appeals. He has argued hundreds of appeals in state and federal courts across the country, including cases defending law enforcement officers and upholding constitutional rights.

In his free time, Paul coaches his son’s baseball team and is an avid marathoner. Paul resides in East Grand Rapids with his wife Jen and two children, Sarah, and John.

In 2016, Paul was awarded the Golden Gavel which "...exemplifies significant contribution to professionalism and courtesy in the practice of law and promotes the image and honorable reputation of the profession" and a legal expert stated "...one name is coming out on top: Paul Hudson.” Most recently, Paul was nominated by the Republican Party as a candidate for the Michigan Supreme Court.

As a pragmatic and principled Republican, Paul is focused on finding common-sense solutions to the problems that face West Michigan and our Nation. With the extremes in both parties threatening to pull our country off course, Paul believes we need a return to sound conservative principles to get us back in the right direction. Paul’s policy platform focuses on three key areas: Growth, Prosperity, & Security.