Pete Hoekstra


Cornelis Piet Hoekstra is an American politician and diplomat serving since 2025 as the 33rd United States ambassador to Canada. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as the United States ambassador to the Netherlands from 2018 to 2021, and was the U.S. representative for Michigan's 2nd congressional district from 1993 to 2011.
Born in the Netherlands, Hoekstra emigrated to the United States as a 12 year old. In 1992, Hoekstra ran for the U.S. House, defeating thirteen-term incumbent Guy Vander Jagt in the Republican primary and Democratic opponent John H. Miltner in the general election. Hoekstra was the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee from 2004 to 2007. He was a candidate for governor in Michigan's 2010 gubernatorial election, but came in second to Rick Snyder in the Republican primary. Hoekstra was also the Republican nominee for the United States Senate in 2012, losing to Democratic incumbent Debbie Stabenow in the general election.
On July 24, 2017, Hoekstra was nominated to be United States ambassador to the Netherlands by President Donald Trump. This nomination was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on November 9, 2017, and Hoekstra was sworn in as U.S. Ambassador on December 11, 2017. He took office on January 10, 2018. During his tenure, he gained notability for making anti-Muslim comments. He left office on January 17, 2021. On January 20, 2024, Hoekstra was elected chair of the Michigan Republican Party. He is listed as a "contributor" to Project 2025.
On November 20, 2024, President-elect Donald Trump announced his intent to nominate Hoekstra to serve as the United States ambassador to Canada. On April 9, 2025, Hoekstra was confirmed by the U.S. Senate as Ambassador to Canada.

Early life and education

Hoekstra was born Cornelis Piet Hoekstra in Groningen, Netherlands. He moved to the U.S. with his parents at the age of three, and Anglicized his name to Peter Hoekstra. He graduated from Holland Christian High School in 1971. He received a Bachelor of Arts in political science from Hope College in 1975 and an MBA from the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business in 1977. He then joined office furniture maker Herman Miller and remained there for 15 years, eventually becoming vice president of marketing.

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

In 1992, Hoekstra made his first bid for public office in Michigan's 2nd congressional district. The district, previously the 9th, had been represented for 26 years by Guy Vander Jagt, longtime chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee. Hoekstra rode his bicycle across the district, which stretched down the Lake Michigan shoreline from Cadillac to the Grand Rapids suburbs. He argued that Vander Jagt had served in Congress for too long; Vander Jagt had won his first election in 1966, when Hoekstra was 13 years old. He scored a monumental upset, winning by almost six percent. Hoekstra dominated the district's more populated southern portion; Vander Jagt's margins in the northern portion, his longtime base, weren't enough to close the gap. This primary win was tantamount to election in a district reckoned as Michigan's most Republican district; the GOP has held the district for all but four years since it was created in 1873. Hoekstra later defeated Democrat John H. Miltner and Libertarian Dick Jacobs in the general election, with 63% of the vote. Hoekstra continued to ride his bicycle across the district every summer, and biked across the state for his gubernatorial campaign.
When he was first elected, Hoekstra initially pledged to serve no more than six terms in the House. However, in 2004, he announced he would break that pledge and seek a seventh term. In 2006, Hoekstra's Leadership PAC raised nearly $160,000 in Political Action Contributions from contributors including the Teamsters, Michigan Credit Union League, and Little Planet Books.
Hoekstra faced no significant opposition in the Republican primary or in the general election and went on to secure his seventh term. Shortly after the primary, he was named chairman of the Intelligence Committee, succeeding Porter Goss, who became Director of the Central Intelligence Agency.

2006

Hoekstra was unopposed in the Republican primary. In November he was opposed by the Democratic candidate Kimon Kotos, who was also his 2004 opponent. Hoekstra defeated Kotos 183,518 votes to 87,361 votes.

2008

Hoekstra ran for re-election in 2008 against Fred Johnson, associate professor of History at Hope College. He beat Johnson by 215,471 to 119,959 votes.

Tenure

Hoekstra had a conservative voting record, consistent with the conservative nature of the 2nd congressional district. He opposed abortion rights, opposed expanding health care benefits for children, opposed gay adoption rights and gay marriage, and voted against paid parental leave for federal employees. However, he also opposed amending the Constitution to prohibit flag desecration.

Gun laws

Hoekstra consistently opposed gun control during his tenure, earning an A rating from the NRA Political Victory Fund. In 2005 he voted to prohibit product lawsuits against gun manufacturers. In 1994 he voted against the Federal Assault Weapons Ban.

False claims about WMDs in Iraq

Hoekstra was a proponent of the claim that the Saddam Hussein regime in Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction at the time of the Second Gulf War, and held onto this belief even after no WMDs were found in the wake of the Iraq invasion. In 2006, Hoekstra made headlines by announcing at a press conference in the Capitol that weapons of mass destruction had been located in Iraq in the form of 500 chemical weapons. However, the weapons in question were defunct munitions, manufactured prior to the 1991 Gulf War and which had been scattered throughout Iraq. The media had already reported on these munitions when Hoekstra made his announcement that the weapons had been discovered. Hoekstra's insistence that the Hussein regime possessed weapons of mass destruction were disputed by both Pentagon officials, the Duelfer Report, and the intelligence community.
On November 3, 2006, The New York Times reported that a website created at the request of Hoekstra and Senator Pat Roberts was found to contain detailed information that could potentially be helpful to those seeking to produce nuclear weapons. The website was shut down on November 2 following questioning by The New York Times.
As of September 17, 2007, some news outlets reported that the congressional committee Hoekstra had overseen had created "erroneous" and "misleading" reports about Iran's nuclear capabilities. "Among the committee's assertions is that Iran is producing weapons-grade uranium at its facility in the town of Natanz. The IAEA called that "incorrect", noting that weapons-grade uranium is enriched to a level of 90 percent or more. Iran has enriched uranium to 3.5 percent under IAEA monitoring."

Operation Iraqi Freedom documents

During the 2003 invasion of Iraq, some 48,000 boxes of documents, audiotapes and videotapes were discovered by the U.S. military. In March 2006, the U.S. government, at the urging of members of Congress, made them available online at its Foreign Military Studies Office website, requesting Arabic translators around the world to help in the translation. On April 18, 2006, about a month after the first documents were made public, Hoekstra, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, issued a news release acknowledging "minimal risks," but saying the site "will enable us to better understand information such as Saddam's links to terrorism, weapons of mass destruction and violence against the Iraqi people." He added: "It will allow us to leverage the Internet to enable a mass examination as opposed to limiting it to a few exclusive elites."
In early November 2006, the entire set of documents was removed. Media reports stated that the website was taken offline because of security concerns regarding the posting of sophisticated diagrams and other information regarding nuclear weapon design prior to the 1991 Persian Gulf war.

Repatriation of Yemeni captives in Guantanamo

On December 27, 2009, Hoekstra commented on reports that Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who had allegedly tried to set off a suicide bomb on Northwest Airlines Flight 253 on December 25, 2009, had subsequently confessed to being trained and equipped in Yemen.
Hoekstra called for a halt to the repatriation of Yemeni captives in Guantanamo.

Tea Party Caucus

Hoekstra was a founding member of the congressional House Tea Party Caucus in 2010.

Committee assignments

In December 2008, Hoekstra said he would not seek re-election to his U.S. House seat in 2010, and instead campaign to be Michigan's governor. Hoekstra joined Mike Bouchard, the Oakland County sheriff and former state senator, former Gateway, Inc. president Rick Snyder, state senator Tom George and Michigan attorney general Mike Cox as 2010 Republican gubernatorial candidates. In the primary, held on August 3, 2010, Hoekstra finished second to Snyder.

2012 U.S. Senate election

Hoekstra was suggested as a possible challenger for Democratic incumbent Debbie Stabenow in the 2012 Senate election, but he initially declined to run. Hoekstra later changed his mind and decided to challenge Stabenow in the election. On August 29, 2011, Hoekstra was endorsed by Republican Michigan Governor Rick Snyder, and on September 23, 2011, Hoekstra was endorsed by 2012 Presidential candidate Michele Bachmann.
Hoekstra faced Stabenow and four third-party candidates in the general election. On November 6, 2012, Hoekstra was defeated by Stabenow, receiving 38% of the vote.