After months of Republicans trying to deter Rep. Bill Huizenga from running for Michigan’s open Senate seat in 2026, the longtime Michigan Republican announced Wednesday that he wouldn’t seek the office.
But it took a conversation with President Donald Trump to convince him.
During a recent meeting between Trump and Huizenga, according to three sources familiar with the conversation, Trump directly asked Huizenga not to run for Senate.
Trump has been an enthusiastic supporter of former Rep. Mike Rogers, who ran for Senate last year and narrowly lost. And Republicans — both in Michigan and Washington — have tried to convince Huizenga that it’d be best to stay out of the race and avoid a messy and expensive primary showdown.
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Asked about Trump urging him not to run, Huizenga confirmed that he spoke to the president — “We had a direct conversation,” Huizenga said — but he avoided disclosing what Trump expressed.
A fourth source familiar with the conversation told NOTUS that Trump relayed to Huizenga that if he were to run for reelection to the House, he would have his support. Huizenga has not said whether he will run for another term in the House.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
This direct ask from Trump is just the latest sign of the president working with Republican leaders to clear the path for certain preferred candidates. Neither the National Republican Congressional Committee nor the National Republican Senatorial Committee wanted Huizenga to run for Senate, with people in both organizations expressing to NOTUS in June that they wanted Huizenga to stay put.
Rogers — who came close to winning Michigan’s Senate seat last year — already has the support of Senate leadership and the NRSC. He has also brought on Chris LaCivita, the former co-campaign manager of Trump’s 2024 presidential bid, to help lead his run for the Michigan Senate seat.
LaCivita had been working to keep Huizenga out of the race, pressuring cryptocurrency executives at a conference in Las Vegas earlier this year not to support Huizenga if he decided to run. The fact that those executives held back their support — and their dollars — was a major blow to Huizenga, who has counted on support from the crypto community throughout his time on the House Financial Services Committee.
While Trump’s request for Huizenga not to run marks his most direct involvement in the race, staff in the White House’s political affairs office had previously urged Huizenga to remain in the House, a source previously told NOTUS.
Those requests apparently didn’t convince Huizenga, however, prompting Trump to step in.
Huizenga’s decision is an obvious boon to Rogers, who is expected to coast to the GOP Senate nomination. But it’s also welcome news for House Republicans. While Huizenga’s congressional seat isn’t seen as the most competitive district, it only has a Partisan Voting Index score of “R+3,” meaning Democrats will be looking to take it in 2026 — and may have had a decent shot had Huizenga vacated the seat.
On Wednesday, as the House finished its last votes before August recess, Huizenga spent about 20 minutes talking with the NRCC’s chair, Rep. Richard Hudson. And because he also lost a race to chair the House Financial Services Committee, Republicans are worried Huizenga won’t run for reelection in the House.
But if Trump’s desires are any indication, he will.
One of the sources familiar with the conversation between Trump and Huizenga told NOTUS that the president communicated to the Michigan Republican that he doesn’t want him to retire from the House anytime soon.
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