Moolenaar is a chemist, and worked at Dow Chemical Company for eight months before entering politics. He was elected to the Michigan House of Representatives in 2002, where he served three terms. In 2010, he was elected to the Michigan Senate, where he served one term. Prior to his election to the Legislature, Moolenaar served on the Midland City Council. In 2014, Moolenaar ran for the United States House of Representatives seat representing. He won the Republican primary election in August, defeating Paul Mitchell, and the general election in November. On April 24, 2018, Moolenaar announced that signatures were officially filed with the Secretary of State for a third term in office. In response to this news, Moolenaar stated "I am grateful for the continued support and trust from hardworking people across mid and northern Michigan. In Congress, I will continue to focus on growing jobs, balancing the budget, supporting our veterans and keeping our country safe with a strong national defense." Moolenaar, along with fellow Michigan representative Andy Levin, has introduced legislation to delay any deportations of Americans to Iraq for two years.
Elections
Moolenaar won election to the 36th district of the Michigan State Senate in 2010. He defeated Democrat Andy Neumann in the November 2nd general election, 56,634 votes to 32,154. On September 7, 2011, the Midland County Election Commission approved recall language submitted against Moolenaar. The submission was the third attempt by Hay Township supervisor Dennis J. Perry in his efforts to recall Moolenaar. The language of the first two petitions was rejected as unclear. The approved language cited Moolenaar's support for Michigan House Bill 4361, which allowed for taxation of public retiree pensions. It was unclear how many signatures needed to be collected, but Perry was instructed to contact each of the 10 county clerks in the district in order to determine the number. The effort failed to collect enough signatures to put the recall on the November 2011 ballot. Moolenaar ran in the 2014 election for the U.S. House to represent Michigan's 4th District. Moolenaar won the Republican nomination in the primary on August 5, 2014, against Paul Mitchell and Peter Konetchy. He defeated Jeff Holmes, Will Tyler White and George Zimmer in the general election on November 4, 2014.
