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GOP officials have spoken with two Michigan state senators about a potential bid for Rep. Bill Huizenga’s seat in the event he does not seek reelection, a person familiar with the talks told Semafor.
Huizenga has not made a decision yet, the person added, as the recruiting battle in Congress hit a fever pitch this week. Huizenga declined to run for his state’s open Senate seat after Trump put his weight behind former Rep. Mike Rogers instead.
Retaining Huizenga in the House would be a huge shot in the arm for the GOP, which is also seeking to recruit former GOP Sen. John E. Sununu in New Hampshire. Some Republicans think Sununu would be stronger than former Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown against Rep. Chris Pappas, D-N.H., who dismissed both as from the “bottom of their failed candidate barrel.”
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First elected in 2010, Huizenga won his “likely Republican” district by 12 points in 2024. Still, it’s a top target for House Democrats’ campaign arm in the midterms after President Donald Trump won it by just three points.
The person added that Republican leaders have asked Huizenga what they can do to entice him to remain in the House. But there are few available leadership opportunities that tempt Huizenga — already House Financial Services Committee vice chair and House Foreign Affairs subcommittee chair — following his failed bid for House Financial Services Committee chair last year.
Brown, meanwhile, already lost a race against retiring Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., who ousted Sununu back in 2008. It would be an awkward spot for Senate Republicans, some of whom have served with both potential candidates.
There’s less drama in Iowa as a lot of GOP senators backed Rep. Ashley Hinson’s campaign to succeed Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa — though Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, is holding off until the filing deadline, even as he said Hinson is well-prepared to be senator.
It’ll be a different story in Tennessee, where multiple House Republicans have expressed interest in Sen. Marsha Blackburn’s seat as she runs for governor. Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., told Semafor that he’s all in if she wins: “I’m not going to do that bogus, ’Oh, I’m going to form an exploratory committee. … That’s BS.”
Democrats, meanwhile, are continuing to build out their primary in Maine as Maine Beer Company founder Dan Kleban jumped into the Senate race. And in a bit of revenge down south, Democrats landed Scott Colom as a candidate in Mississippi against GOP Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith — who blocked Colum’s judicial appointment.