Republican · Michigan's 12th District · 2026
James Hooper
Hooper worked nights in Detroit's Eastern Market while still in high school, then moved into the building trades.
Biography
James Hooper grew up on Detroit's east side and worked nights in Eastern Market while still in high school.1 He later moved into the building trades.1 He married Kim, a longtime Livonia resident, in 2010, and the couple made Livonia their home in 2013.2
His work took him to Liberia with Samaritan's Purse, where he led teams rebuilding African Bible College University.1 He later helped the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association organize a Franklin Graham event there and managed a water, sanitation and hygiene program near the border with Côte d'Ivoire.1 After returning home, he became his mother's full time caregiver.1
In a 2025 questionnaire during his campaign for Livonia City Council, Hooper listed his occupation as a machinist for a defense supplier.3 He described his education as a high school diploma followed by continued learning through public libraries and a personal collection of hundreds of books.3 His city campaign also advocated restoring the Alfred Noble Library.2
His congressional platform opposes abortion and calls for strong Second Amendment protections.4 He proposes eliminating the federal Department of Education and returning authority to states and local communities.4 On healthcare, he supports a market approach emphasizing prevention and mental health, and opposes mandatory medical procedures and vaccination passports.4
Record and controversies
2020 election litigation
Hooper was a plaintiff in King v. Whitmer, a case seeking to overturn Michigan's 2020 presidential election result.5.6 A judge denied emergency relief in December 2020, and the plaintiffs voluntarily dismissed the complaint in January 2021.6 A 2023 appeals ruling upheld some attorney sanctions for baseless fraud claims but said certain election challenger claims were not frivolous; the plaintiffs themselves were not sanctioned.6 The Supreme Court declined to review the attorneys' sanctions case in February 2024 and denied rehearing that April.7 Hooper's biography, dated 2022 and still on his campaign website, claims the election was “hijacked” and describes joining the suit as his duty as a county GOP chair and precinct delegate.1