In Michigan’s 4th Congressional District, the ground could be shifting under Rep. Bill Huizenga’s feet. Since 2011, the gravel-company co-owner turned Republican congressman has represented West Michigan in Washington. His district runs from Holland to Kalamazoo and Battle Creek, encompassing blueberry farms, Lake Michigan beach towns, and factory cities.
But a September poll by GBAO, a Democratic polling firm, shows Democratic state Sen. Sean McCann leading him 47% to 46% in the run-up to the Nov. 3 election.
McCann would be Michigan’s new representation in Washington. He’s served on the Kalamazoo City Commission and in the Michigan Legislature, where he now chairs the Senate Energy and Environment Committee. “I represent a chance to bring about change in Washington, D.C.,” he told WWMT.
Huizenga has a 15-year congressional record, and voters will likely judge it on affordability. In a July Pew Research Center survey, voters ranked the economy as the top issue they want candidates to address, and they mentioned cost of living most often.
McCann vs. Huizenga on taxes
In July 2025, Huizenga voted for President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA). It made the 2017 tax cuts permanent and added new breaks for tips, overtime, and seniors. Huizenga said the law stopped “the largest tax increase in our nation’s history.”
A ‘Gander Newsroom fact check found that Huizenga’s statement isn’t entirely accurate for all of his constituents. The Congressional Budget Office estimated that, under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the lowest-income households would lose about $1,200 in resources annually, while the highest-income households would gain about $13,600 annually.
McCann has cut taxes in Lansing, too, but in different ways. He backed the state’s 2023 “Lowering MI Costs” plan, which raised Michigan’s Working Families Tax Credit for about 700,000 families and began phasing out the state tax on retirement income. In 2025, he supported a state deal that ended Michigan’s income tax on tips, overtime, and Social Security.
When it comes to trade, Huizenga backed Trump’s 2025 tariffs and acknowledged they could hurt Southwest Michigan: “Is it going to be easy? Not necessarily. Is it the right thing to do? Absolutely it is.”
McCann opposes the tariffs.
The deficit is another dividing line. The Congressional Budget Office estimates the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, supported by Huizenga, will add about $3.4 trillion to federal deficits over a decade. McCann, by contrast, helps craft Michigan’s budget as the state Senate Appropriations Committee’s majority vice chair, working under a constitutional requirement to balance the state’s budget rather than spend more than it takes in.
McCann vs. Huizenga on healthcare
The OBBBA that Huizenga backed also cut Medicaid and SNAP food assistance.
In the 4th District, about 167,400 people rely on Medicaid, and at least 15,000 are at risk of losing healthcare coverage, according to estimates reported by ‘Gander Newsroom. About 25,000 district residents, including thousands of children, stand to lose some or all of their SNAP benefits.
Huizenga points to prescription drug prices at “a 60-year low” as a reason for cutting healthcare benefits. In January 2026, he voted against extending the Affordable Care Act tax credits that lower marketplace premiums. Campaign finance data show that Huizenga has taken campaign contributions from Big Pharma, and has personal holdings in at least two “Health, Wellness, Vitamins & Supplements” companies.
McCann helped pass a 2025 state budget that his office says protected Medicaid and food aid for Michiganders. It also included $270 million for Rx Kids, which gives cash to expectant and new mothers and already operates in Kalamazoo, in addition to other cities across the state. McCann supports extending the ACA credits and reversing the federal cuts to healthcare coverage. “Folks are going to lose their healthcare,” he told WWMT.
Read More: Michigan mom says Rx Kids made all the difference to her family
McCann vs. Huizenga on energy costs
In 2023, McCann’s committee advanced Michigan’s clean energy law, which requires 100% clean energy by 2040, raises efficiency targets that benefit low-income households, and protects Michigan’s land and water resources.
Republicans and the state’s two largest utility companies objected to parts of the law.
Democrat McCann is now co-sponsoring a bill that would bar utilities from seeking a new rate increase within three years of their last one.
Huizenga’s campaign points to a $1.6 billion federal loan to DTE that the Energy Department says will save its 1.4 million customers about $700 million over 30 years through lower financing costs. Those savings could keep gas bills from climbing as much as they otherwise might, but they don’t guarantee bills will fall. Republicans argue McCann’s push to repeal the 2025 federal law could threaten those savings, though the loan closed in June 2026 and it is unclear how the repeal would affect the existing agreement.
‘Gander Newsroom has reported that Huizenga has taken more than $167,000 from utility companies.
McCann vs. Huizenga on ethics
McCann released a 10-point plan to stop lawmakers from getting rich in office, first reported by The ‘Gander. It includes a congressional stock-trading ban and a lifetime lobbying ban. In 2013, he proposed an independent redistricting commission—five years before voters created one.
Meanwhile, the Detroit Metro Times found that Huizenga’s campaign has paid at least $400,714 since 2013 to a company owned by his half-brother, who also serves as the campaign’s part-time chairman. The payments are legal, and the Federal Election Commission found no wrongdoing on a related complaint. ‘Gander Newsroom has also covered the arrangement.
McCann has faced questions of his own. The National Republican Congressional Committee, citing a New York Post report, has alleged that two Kalamazoo rental homes he owns failed city inspections, with violations that took months to fix.
The choice on November 3rd
Huizenga is asking voters to stick with 15 years of experience in Washington. McCann is asking them to send someone new, with more than a decade of work in Lansing behind him. The race may come down to which record voters in Holland, Kalamazoo and Battle Creek feel in their own wallets.
Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3. Voters can check their registration and find their polling place here.
