She is a member of the Republican party who represented the 26th district of the Michigan Senate from 2011 to 2018.
[1] Prior to her election to the Senate, she served three terms in the Michigan State House of Representatives.
Prior to her election to the Michigan House of Representatives, Schuitmaker unsuccessfully ran for an open Van Buren County Circuit Judge seat in 1996.
She is also a member of the Van Buren County Community Corrections Advisory Board.
[4] Schuitmaker, her husband Steve, and their two children, Jordan and Savina, live in Lawton, Michigan.