Bill Huizenga

This article is about a US politician. For other uses, see Huizenga.

Bill Huizenga
Personal details
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Natalie Huizenga
Children	Garret Huizenga, William Huizenga, Alexandera Huizenga, Adrian Huizenga, and Sieger Huizenga
Residence	Zeeland, Michigan
Alma mater	Calvin College (B.A.) in Political Science
Occupation	Business Owner, Republican candidate for US Congress

Bill Huizenga (born January 31, 1969 in Zeeland, Michigan) is an American politician from the state of Michigan. He comes from Dutch descent. He is a former Republican member of the Michigan State House of Representatives. His district was located in Ottawa County and included the cities of Holland, Zeeland, Hudonsville, and the four townships Blendon Township, Jamestown Township, Holland Township, and Zeeland Township.

Currently, Huizenga is a self proclaimed business owner, though his company in Zeeland, Michigan has no employees and has not been open for business for a year. Bill Huizenga also works at Holland Christian School.

Congress 2010

Huizenga is a declared Republican candidate for Michigan's open 2nd congressional district in 2010. Incumbent Representative Peter Hoekstra is retiring after serving 18 years in Congress.

Huizenga often states that his main motivation for seeking office deals with the current US debt and job loss, both of which he says are unsustainable. However, Huizenga has been heavily criticized for not living up to his claims of "less spending" and "job creation" because of some votes that he cast while in the Michigan House of Representatives. Huizenga's most criticized votes include his nearly $500million of additional spending in 2008, his vote for the Michigan Film Initiative, as well as his vote for the job killing Michigan Business Tax. Furthermore, as a private business owner, he believes that the time has come for Michigan to send representatives to Washington who are experienced in commerce and industry. He is also an outspoken pro-life advocate and is committed to making this a part of his agenda in Washington.

Commercial background

Huizenga is the current owner and operator of Huizenga Gravel Company, Inc. This is a third generation business located in Zeeland, Michigan, and Bill Huizenga has been affiliated with it for most of his life. Huizenga also recently renewed his drilling permit with the local community to ensure at least five more years of drilling in Jenison, where one of the gravel pits is located.

In the early nineties, Bill Huizenga also obtained his private realtors license, and he quickly became one of the most successful realtors in southwest Michigan. However, he left real estate in 1996 when he was recruited by Congressman Peter Hoekstra (R, Holland) to be Hoekstra's District Director in 2nd congressional district.

Political service

Bill Huizenga indirectly entered politics when Peter Hoekstra recruited him in 1996 to be his District Director in west Michigan. Huizenga served Hoekstra's office in this role for six years, from 1996-2002. During that time, Huizenga traveled up and down west Michigan becoming familiar with the various towns and cities of west Michigan. At some point during his travels about the district, Huizenga became enticed to run for political office and try to solve Michigan's problems first hand.

Huizenga was elected to the Michigan State House of Representatives, representing Michigan's 90th district, in 2002. He faithfully served his district in this capacity until 2008 when he was forced to retire, due to term limits, which are imposed upon all state legislators.

However, shortly after the 2008 elections, Peter Hoekstra announced that he had decided to retire from the Congress and begin campaigning to become Michigan's next governor in 2010. This, therefore, left his representative seat in west Michigan open, and shortly after, Huizenga announced that he was going to run to replace Hoekstra and become west Michigan's next voice to the US House of Representatives.

Affiliations

Huizenga is seeking the Republican nomination to the US House of Representatives. He has served as his church's representative to Michigan Right to Life for the last 9 years and promises that he will actively promote a pro-life agenda when in Washington. In 2007, he was the only political leader chosen by the Holland Sentinel newspaper for their “40 under 40″ feature.

He was the recipient of the West Michigan chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association’s 2000 Advocate of the Year Award, the Michigan Manufacturers Association 2003 Advocate of the Year award, the Michigan Manufacturers Association 2005 Legislator of the Year Award, the Michigan Hotel and Motel Association 2007 Tourism Legislator of the Year award, the DADS and MOMS of Michigan 2007 Legislator of the Year Award, and the Michigan Aggregates Association 2007 Legislator of the Year Award.

External links

• Bill Huizenga for Congress
• Youtube: Michigan Film Incentives
• Michigan Business Tax