DCCC Statement on Michigan’s 4th Congressional District

“Bill Huizenga has spent this entire year proving to Southwest Michiganders he has zero desire to represent them. From his vote to kick Michiganders off their health care and raise their costs while giving tax cuts to billionaires, to his rubber stamping of reckless tariffs that mean higher prices for families, it’s clear Huizenga works for the special interests and is out-of-step with Southwest Michiganders. Next year Michiganders will elect new leadership who will actually work for them.”

In case you missed it:

• Even as ancestrally Democratic parts of Michigan have veered right in the Trump era, West Michigan has been a bright spot for Democrats. Republicans have continued to lose ground in Grand Rapids and the surrounding suburbs, home to Dutch Reformed Christians who lean conservative but are Trump skeptical.
• Those political trends enabled Democratic Rep. Hillary Scholten to flip the Grand Rapids-based 3rd District in 2022. Now, there are signs that its neighboring district to the south could host a competitive race next year.
• Michigan’s 4th District includes Kalamazoo, the outer suburbs of Grand Rapids and the working-class city of Battle Creek (home to the Kellogg factory). In 2016, Donald Trump carried it by nine points; in 2020, that advantage had shrunk to four points.
• In 2022, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer narrowly carried the district. 
• …Ottawa County, a conservative Grand Rapids suburb, was one of the few counties where Kamala Harris improved on Joe Biden’s 2020 margin.
• The city of Holland, which straddles Ottawa and Allegan counties, has moved 18 points leftward over the past 12 years.