Bettie Cook Scott

Bettie Cook Scott (born May 31, 1953) is an American Democratic Party politician who served in the Michigan House of Representatives from the 2nd district from 2017 to 2018. She previously served in the Michigan House of Representatives from the 3rd district from 2007 to 2010.

Between 2007 and 2010 Representative Scott worked to amend the Driver Responsibility Act of 2003 while serving on the Michigan House's Labor committee and Regulatory Reform committee. In her final year she proclaimed success at repealing the driver responsibility fees resulting from that act through legislation passed in 2018.

Controversy During the 2018 Democratic primary for the state Senate, Scott made racist remarks towards people of Asian heritage, including to her opponent, Michigan state representative Stephanie Chang. Witnesses reported Scott calling Chang and her volunteers "ching chong" or "ching chang" and accusing one of Chang's campaign volunteers of being an "immigrant", saying "you don't belong here" and "I want you out of my country." Chang's husband, an African-American man, reported hearing Scott saying that it "disgusts [Scott] seeing black people holding signs for these Asians and not supporting their own people," and that he was a "fool" for marrying Chang.

Stephanie Chang commented on Scott's remarks, saying "These comments are offensive to all Asian-Americans. It isn't about me. It's about an elected official disrespecting entire populations, whether they be Asian-American, immigrant, or residents of Sen. District 1 or [Scott's] own current house district."

Absence

After the loss of the state Senate primary election on August 7, 2018, Scott never returned to the state House in Lansing to pursue the business of her constituents, missing 197 votes for her entire term of office (2017–18).