Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-MI) will not mount a campaign for Michigan’s open battleground Senate seat in 2026, allowing the GOP to avoid what would have been a bitter primary fight with the national party’s preferred candidate, Mike Rogers.
Huizenga, who has teased a possible run for months, said in a statement Wednesday that after speaking with his family and “in consultation with President Trump, I have decided against a bid for U.S. Senate in Michigan.”
“I am proud of our effort and am grateful for the outpouring of support and encouragement I received from Michiganders across our great state,” he said. “I look forward to announcing my future plans later this year.”
Huizenga had ongoing conversations with Trump about his possible bid as recently as last Friday, after the president signed into law the GENIUS Act crypto legislation at the White House, according to sources familiar with the matter. Trump’s opinion was the deciding factor.
Republicans, including Senate leadership, were already coalescing around Rogers, the former congressman who narrowly lost a Senate bid last year to now-Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI). Party operatives feared Huizenga would create an unnecessary primary feud, be a weaker general election candidate, and make his House district, which Democrats are already eyeing to flip, more vulnerable.
The Senate GOP’s campaign arm was “unapologetic in discouraging Huizenga from running” and “discouraged donors from supporting him until he made a decision,” according to a party operative.
The race to replace retiring Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI) is a crowded one on the Democratic side, but polls showed Rogers was likely the more formidable Republican candidate.
Still, Huizenga’s choice comes just days after Rogers posted lackluster second-quarter fundraising numbers that trailed Huizenga and all three main Democratic challengers. Even with incorporating Rogers’ broader political fundraising operation, he was outraised by two Democrats.
GOP’S MIKE ROGERS LAGS BEHIND CHALLENGERS IN BID TO FLIP MICHIGAN SENATE SEAT
Senate Leadership Fund, the super PAC tied to GOP leadership backing Rogers, cheered Huizenga’s decision without naming the congressman.
“There’s no doubt that Mike Rogers is poised to be Michigan’s next U.S. senator, and Senate Leadership Fund will support his campaign every step of the way,” SLF Executive Director Alex Latcham said. “[Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD)] and [NRSC Chairman Tim Scott (R-SC)] supported Mike Rogers from the beginning, and now is the time to unite and let Democrats fight over their first-place loser.”