The Case Against Bill Huizenga

To: Interested Parties
From: Katie Smith, DCCC Regional Press Secretary
Date: August 4, 2026
Subject: The Case Against Bill Huizenga

For fifteen years, Bill Huizenga has perfected his routine: Wake up in Washington, put on a fancy suit, get rich while handing Michiganders the bill, rinse and repeat.

Until this year, Huizenga has never faced a real referendum on his record which has been defined by years of looking out for himself and his corporate donors instead of Michigan. Huizenga voted over and over to gut health care, undermine Social Security and Medicare, raise energy bills, and drive up the cost of living for regular families – all while cutting his own taxes, increasing his wealth by as much as fivefold, and even giving handouts to his business and paying campaign cash to his family.

With his years in D.C. now under scrutiny, Huizenga is desperately trying to rewrite his record. But the facts are clear: Huizenga is a self-serving fraud who sold out Michiganders to the highest bidder.

Sean McCann is the leader who will take on Washington for the people of Southwest Michigan, because he’s spent his life fighting for working people. Throughout his career, he took on the slumlords, corporate polluters, and the big utility companies. Sean will stand up to the broken, corrupt, self-dealing culture in Washington, and get Congress back to working for Michiganders.

Michigan’s historically conservative Fourth Congressional District has steadily trended to the center, with Governor Gretchen Whitmer and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson both winning more than 50% of the vote in 2022. This evolution, paired with Sean’s record of overperforming the top of the ticket guarantees Bill Huizenga is in for the most competitive race of his career. This election will be a choice between a sell-out with a long record of helping himself at the direct expense of Michiganders – versus a pragmatic leader with a long record of taking on the powerful to fight for the people.

The Sweet Life of Bill Huizenga: Getting Rich, Cutting His Own Taxes, and Living Large on His Campaign’s Dime

Bill Huizenga went to Washington, D.C. fifteen years ago, and who is better off now? Bill Huizenga is – not Michiganders.

Since he got to Washington, his wealth has increased by as much as fivefold. This Congress, Huizenga voted to give himself an up to $50,000 tax break, paid for by regular families and deep cuts to health care, instead of prioritizing relief for working people. And he voted to give tax breaks to his family business and the ultra-wealthy – another example of prioritizing himself and the billionaires – instead of giving real tax relief to working people.

Huizenga has made the most of his years in Washington, never hesitating to use his office and his campaign to benefit himself. His campaign paid $400,000 to an LLC owned by his brother, who simultaneously was employed as a real estate agent selling luxury condos for Huizenga and his wife’s real estate business. Notably, there’s no other political campaign in Michigan or across the country who paid Huizenga’s brother for political work, raising serious questions about how and why Huizenga is steering campaign dollars towards his family – and whether he is subsidizing his family business with donors dollars, which would be a campaign finance law violation.

That’s not all: Huizenga has repeatedly come under scrutiny for lavish campaign expenditures and travel. He faced an ethics investigation for spending campaign cash at Disney World. He’s received even more scrutiny for other luxury travel, including “Montana snowmobile rentals,” “golf, dining, and cigars in Florida,” a “five-star, ski-in/ski-out hotel,” and luxury Puerto Rico restaurants. He even faced an FEC complaint for failing to disclose tens of thousands of dollars of reimbursements to his wife, and got caught jetting off to Scotland and touring castles while thousands of Michiganders went unpaid during a government shutdown.

Unsurprisingly, Huizenga was one of just thirteen members of Congress to vote against a ban on insider trading, expanding the FEC’s ability to prosecute lawbreakers. You heard that right: Huizenga opposed making insider trading illegal and preventing politicians and the rich from abusing their positions to get richer.

Huizenga embraced the corrupt and broken system, but Sean McCann will go after it. Sean has spent years taking on the powerful and standing up to big money interests making life harder for Michiganders. Whether it’s his work to get dark money out of politics, or his fight against slumlords and big oil polluters, Sean is on Michiganders’ side. In Congress he’ll keep up that fight, working to ban members of Congress from trading stocks and betting on prediction markets to game the system, force billionaires and corporations to pay their fair share, and work to cut costs.

“Raised Your Bills” Huizenga: Thanks to Huizenga, Everything is More Expensive

Huizenga has enjoyed life in Washington, D.C. because he’s spent his time finding ways to enrich himself, his family, and his corporate allies at the expense of Michiganders. When Huizenga weighs his votes, he likely asks the question: “does this help me?” He puts his stamp of approval on the backwards policies coming out of Washington that makes life in Southwest Michigan harder, and he and his rich friends make a buck.

Huizenga voted for the Big, Ugly Bill, a handout to himself and his billionaire friends paid for by cutting Michiganders’ health care. More than 27,000 people in MI-04 are at risk of losing their care, and 29,000 are already paying more thanks to Huizenga’s vote for the bill. Huizenga’s deep cuts to Medicaid threaten rural Michiganders’ ability to access quality health care close by, and makes it even harder for families already struggling to afford care to access it.

This is the latest in a long pattern from Huizenga of trying to gut health care at the behest of his friends and wealthy supporters. He repeatedly voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act and called it a disappointment that his scheme to rip away health care failed, despite the fact that 1.8 million Michiganders with preexisting conditions would be at risk. He voted against extending premium health care tax credits, spiking premiums for 29,000  Michiganders in the district. And he opposed allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices, to save the government money while lowering the burden for Michiganders to access lifesaving medication.

Huizenga has also gone after Social Security and Medicare, voting repeatedly to raise the retirement age and undermine the earned benefits that seniors worked hard for. He even justified his votes by saying “I’m gonna be ok” in retirement: unbelievably callous and out-of-touch, but par for the course for a politician laser-focused on using the trappings of Washington to his own financial benefit.

As Michiganders have struggled to pay their bills and face skyrocketing energy prices, Huizenga has made their lives even more expensive: gutting programs that help hardworking families cover their electricity bills. Huizenga voted over and over against  energy assistance programs and voted against funding to help Michigan families pay their utility bills. He is in the pocket of his corporate special interest donors who’ve given him hundreds of thousands of dollars and voted their way – not working for the Michigan families facing the skyrocketing cost of energy. And he voted to allow the war of choice in Iran which is raising prices at the pump. Huizenga voted to send billions more to continue the war, yet can’t name how much more Michiganders are paying for gas thanks to him.

Sean McCann will do the opposite: stand up to his party when they get it wrong, and always prioritize what’s best for Michigan families. With a record of helping pass the largest tax cut in Michigan’s history, voters already know Sean will work to cut taxes for the middle class to reduce the burden on families doing everything right but still struggling to get by. Sean broke with other Democrats and joined Republicans in voting to suspend the gas tax to provide relief to Michigan families. He will take on Big Oil and corporate interests making utilities more expensive, and he refuses to take their cash in his campaign. Sean will ban health insurance companies from denying the care Michiganders need, work to make housing more affordable for working families, and always side with Michiganders against powerful special interests.

An Absent Washington Politician Trying to Climb the Political Ladder

To understand Bill Huizenga’s priorities, you only have to look at where he decides to show up… like castles in Scotland, where he was caught sightseeing during a government shutdown. But showing up in the district for a town hall? Hasn’t happened since 2018 because he can’t be bothered to speak with Michiganders.

Huizenga can’t even be bothered to make Washington work for Michigan. He is so unwilling to do his job that he’s the only member of the entire delegation that refuses to bring back direct investments back into the district, denying the community much-needed dollars to help local police departments, support for aging infrastructure, or dollars to fund food banks or nonprofits helping Southwest Michigan families make ends meet.

Huizenga has had Southwest Michigan in the rearview mirror for a long time now, but it became clearer with his ill-fated attempt to leave this district behind for a promotion to the United States Senate. Following his well-established pattern of being absent in every single way, Huizenga tried to take it to the next level, but faced humiliating rejection from Donald Trump who made the decision for him to stay put (again).

While Huizenga is nowhere to be found, Sean McCann is a fixture of his community. Sean shows up: whether it’s at his regular coffee hour listening sessions, town halls, or visiting with his neighbors at his kids’ soccer practice. Sean cares what Michiganders have to say, and he goes out of his way to listen. Sean will show up and fight for Michiganders, standing up to both parties when they get it wrong, and most importantly will put Michigan first.

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING 

Michigan Independent: Huizenga’s wealth grew as he skipped community project funding for Michigan district [Michigan Independent, 2/11/26]

The New Republic: The House Republicans Getting Rich Off Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill [The New Republic, 10/13/25]

Michigan Advance: Huizenga’s office confirms Scotland delegation visit during partial shutdown [Michigan Advance, 4/1/26]

Detroit Metro Times: Huizenga’s campaign paid his brother’s business $400,000 as he sold the congressman’s condos [Detroit Metro Times, 7/13/26]

The Gander: ‘Big beautiful bill’ will end Medicaid for people in Kalamazoo, Holland, and Battle Creek this year. Here’s how many will lose it—and who’s responsible [The Gander, 7/25/25]

Daily Beast: MAGA Bootlicker’s Jaw-Dropping Luxury Splurge Exposed [Daily Beast, 6/22/26]

A MAGA congressman has been splurging thousands of donor dollars on ski trips and fine dining like someone who didn’t just spend half a decade under investigation for alleged abuse of campaign funds.

Federal Election Commission filings also show that in April 2024, the campaign spent more than $2,500 at a high-end hotel and ski resort in Aspen, Colorado, including $1,986.15 in “travel expenses” at the Little Nell, Aspen’s only five-star, ski-in/ski-out hotel, where rooms start at $799 a night. It also dropped roughly $600 on golf, dining, and cigars in Florida the previous Christmas.

At the time those earlier costs were racked up, Huizenga, 57, was still under investigation by the House Ethics Committee over donor money spent at holiday spots including Disney World, Utah’s Deer Valley ski resort, and Michigan’s Mackinac Island.

Heartland Signal: Rep. Bill Huizenga has a 15-year record of voting to cut Social Security and Medicare [Heartland Signal, 7/30/26]

When defending proposals to raise the retirement age during a 2011 television interview, Huizenga dismissed personal concerns. […] “… I’m gonna be ok,” Huizenga said.

Michigan Advance: Moroun cash ties Michigan GOP hopefuls to Trump’s Gordie Howe bridge standoff [Michigan Advance, 2/11/26]

Huizenga and Barrett did not issue statements on the matter. […] Campaign finance records show that Matthew Moroun contributed $3,500 to Huizenga’s reelection efforts late last year.

Michigan Advance: Michigan Democratic lawmakers introduce legislation to curb campaign spending power of corporations [Michigan Advance, 7/8/26]

State Rep. Betsy Coffia, a Democrat from Traverse City, and state Sen. Sean McCann, a Kalamazoo Democrat, introduced legislation in their respective chambers last week to limit the powers of business corporations, nonprofit corporations and limited liability companies to participate in campaign spending.

Detroit Free Press: Sean McCann outraises U.S. Rep. Huizenga by $400K in first quarter [Detroit Free Press, 4/16/26]

Semafor: Exclusive / Democrat McCann pulls ahead in key House race [Semafor, 6/8/26]

PATH TO VICTORY

Bill Huizenga has never faced a competitive general election in his entire time in Congress – meaning that his record has never been litigated. That changes this year.

For years, Michigan’s 4th district has been trending towards Democrats. In 2022, both Governor Gretchen Whitmer and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson – who will be at the top of the ticket this year – carried this district with more than 50% of the vote. Democratic House candidates in this district have steadily gained support in recent cycles, even without meaningful resources behind their candidacies. And Democrats have made inroads in traditionally Republican parts of the district like Van Buren County, even flipping swingy Berrien County, while growing their base of support in Kalamazoo.

Sean McCann’s path to victory in MI-04 includes running up the score in Kalamazoo, which he’s in a strong position to do as the Kalamazoo-based State Senator who ran ahead of the Democratic U.S. House candidate in 2022 by 7 points, while losing by less in the more conservative regions. Recent polling finds Sean leading with Independents by a double-digit margin, as we’ve seen Independents across Michigan fed up with the administration and consistently choosing Democrats.

Voters are fed up with a broken system and looking for change, and Bill Huizenga is a representative of that broken system. As voters view Republicans in Congress as fleecing them to get rich, Huizenga’s record includes doing exactly that: coming out as much as five times richer than when he went to D.C. while Michigan families are drowning due to the rising cost of living.

This race will be a choice between a soccer dad and a pragmatic leader who has never hesitated to stand up to the powerful, versus a Washington politician enjoying the trappings of his office while hurting the people he is supposed to represent. Michigan’s 4th congressional district will fire Bill Huizenga and elect proven fighter Sean McCann.

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