SCOOP: Rep. Bill Huizenga’s new ad pitches him as the “thrifty” solution Southwest Michigan needs in Congress

Rep. Bill Huizenga (R., Mich.) is out with his first television ad of the 2026 cycle, and it’s all about how he learned how to be “tight with a buck” when he was growing up in Southwest Michigan.

In Huizenga’s ad, the Michigan lawmaker bills himself as Southwest Michigan’s Dutch Penny Pincher while shutting off the lights in his kitchen while his wife and son work behind him.

“Really, dad?” Huizenga is asked. “Maybe I’m a little tight with a buck,” Huizenga says. “It’s in my roots.” Elsewhere in the ad, Huizenga takes what may be a veiled shot at Democratic Socialists, like New York City’s Mayor Zohran Mamdani, when he stares at his thermostat that is set to 71 degrees. 

“I’m a little thrifty,” Huizenga admits. “But when it comes to your money, I think that’s a good thing.” He touts his record in Congress, which includes “work[ing] to cut waste, lower drug costs, and help folks get more out of every paycheck. And look, if Congress can’t pass a budget, they shouldn’t get paid.”

“Washington ought to spend money like Michiganders do: carefully,” he adds. This sets Huizenga up for an ideological contrast with his likely Democratic opponent, state Senator Sean McCann, who Republicans are eager to label as “Tax Man Sean McCann.”

Huizenga’s campaign already released a microsite with that exact title where users are directed to “use our calculator to see what your annual loss is thanks to Tax Man McCann.”

“Sean McCann made a career out of raising costs on families,” Huizenga’s site tells viewers. “On the Kalamazoo City Commission, McCann voted to raise water rates and property taxes. In Lansing, he backed a 1,288% increase in garbage collection taxes and supported a 16% sales tax hike that would make everyday essentials like school supplies, clothing, and groceries more expensive for Michigan families.”

In contrast with McCann, Huizenga’s spokesman Calvin Moore noted that “Bill Huizenga has never forgotten his roots or the values he grew up with here in Southwest Michigan.”

Huizenga, Moore said, “knows families are working hard to stretch every dollar, which is why he’s fighting to lower the cost of gas and groceries, help families keep more of their paychecks and reduce prescription drug costs.”

Watch Huizenga’s new ad here.