Mark E. Huizenga (born July 21, 1967) is a Republican member of the

Michigan Senate The Michigan Senate is the upper house of the Michigan Legislature. Along with the Michigan House of Representatives, it composes the state legislature, which has powers, roles and duties defined by Article IV of the Michigan Constitution, ado ...

for the 30th district.

Early life and education

Huizenga was born July 21, 1967, in

Grand Rapids, Michigan Grand Rapids is the largest city and county seat of Kent County, Michigan, United States. With a population of 198,917 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 200,117 in 2024, Grand Rapids is the List of municipalities ...

.State Representative MARK E. HUIZENGA, R–74th Representative District
''Michigan Manual 2021-2022''. He has a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

in business administration from

Calvin University Calvin University, formerly Calvin College, is a private Christian university in Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1876, Calvin University is an educational institution of the Christian Reformed Church and stands in the Reforme ...

and a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

in management from Aquinas College.

Business and city politics

Huizenga owns Mark Huizenga Systems Consulting, a health-care consulting firm he formed in 1997. Huizenga is a founder and managing partner for Key Green Solutions, LLC. He is a member of the American College of Medical Practice Executives. In July 2005, Huizenga was appointed to the

Walker Walker or The Walker may refer to: People *Walker (given name) *Walker (surname) *Walker (Brazilian footballer) (born 1982), Brazilian footballer Places In the United States *Walker, Arizona, in Yavapai County *Walker, Mono County, California * ...

planning commission;Logan T. Hansen
Mayor Huizenga shares final farewell: 'I have been honored to be part of this team'
''MLive'' (December 19, 2018). he remained on the planning commission until 2011. He was a city commissioner for the 2nd

ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

from 2011 to 2013. He was mayor from 2013 to 2018. He won election in 2013 in an uncontested, low- turnout race, in which he was endorsed by outgoing mayor Barbara Holt. He was elected to a second term in 2017, defeating longtime City Commissioner Al Parent. He opposed a

ballot initiative A popular initiative (also citizens' initiative) is a form of direct democracy by which a petition meeting certain hurdles can force a legal procedure on a proposition. In direct initiative, the proposition is put directly to a plebiscite o ...

to establish a two-year

term limit A term limit is a legal restriction on the number of terms a person may serve in a particular elected office. When term limits are found in presidential and semi-presidential systems they act as a method of curbing the potential for monopoly, w ...

for the Walker mayor and city commissioners.

Michigan Legislature career

Elections

Huizenga was elected as a member of the Republican Party to the

Michigan House of Representatives The Michigan House of Representatives is the lower house of the Michigan Legislature. There are 110 members, each of whom is elected from constituencies having approximately 77,000 to 91,000 residents, based on population figures from the 2020 ...

from District 74 in November 2018. He filled a seat previously occupied by Rob VerHeulen, who preceded him as mayor of Walker. The 74th district covered the portions of Kent County, specifically the cities of Cedar Springs, Grandville, Rockford and

, and the townships of Algoma,

Alpine Alpine may refer to any mountainous region. It may also refer to: Places Europe * Alps, a European mountain range ** Alpine states, which overlap with the European range Australia * Alpine, New South Wales, a Northern Village * Alpine National P ...

Solon Solon (; ; BC) was an Archaic Greece#Athens, archaic History of Athens, Athenian statesman, lawmaker, political philosopher, and poet. He is one of the Seven Sages of Greece and credited with laying the foundations for Athenian democracy. ...

Sparta Sparta was a prominent city-state in Laconia in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (), while the name Sparta referred to its main settlement in the Evrotas Valley, valley of Evrotas (river), Evrotas rive ...

, and Tyrone. He was re-elected in 2020. In 2021, Huizenga was elected to the

in a

special election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

in District 28, to fill the vacanct seat formerly occupied by Peter MacGregor, who resigned from the senate to become Kent County

treasurer A treasurer is a person responsible for the financial operations of a government, business, or other organization. Government The treasury of a country is the department responsible for the country's economy, finance and revenue. The treasure ...

.Reps. Wozniak, Huizenga win primaries for Senate seats
Associated Press (August 4, 2021). Huizenga narrowly won the special Republican

primary election Primary elections or primaries are elections held to determine which candidates will run in an upcoming general election. In a partisan primary, a political party selects a candidate. Depending on the state and/or party, there may be an "open pr ...

in August 2021, defeating former state Representative Kevin Green, who came in second place, and state Representative

Tommy Brann Tommy Brann (born December 23, 1951) is an American politician from Michigan. Brann is a Republican member of Michigan House of Representatives from District 77. Early life Thomas Michael Brann was born on December 23, 1951. Brann's father ...

, who came in third place.Michael Kransz
Runner-up in 28th Senate District Republican primary files for partial recount citing 'potential concerns'
''MLive'' (August 23, 2021). The close primary race went to a recount, with Huizenga and Green separated by fewer than 200 votes. District 28 was a heavily Republican "

safe seat A safe seat is an electoral district which is regarded as fully secure, for either a certain political party, or the incumbent representative personally or a combination of both. With such seats, there is very little chance of a seat changing h ...

" covering areas in northern and western Kent County.Brian McVicar
All shook up: Redistricting has turned safe Grand Rapids area House & Senate races into heated battles
''MLive'' (November 4, 2022). In the

redistricting Redistricting in the United States is the process of drawing electoral district boundaries. For the United States House of Representatives, and state legislatures, redistricting occurs after each ten-year census. The U.S. Constitution in Art ...

, the Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission drew Huizenga into the new District 30, a somewhat more competitive district that includes parts of the

City of Grand Rapids A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

along with some suburban areas in Kent County ( Rockford and the townships of

Grand Rapids Grand Rapids is the largest city and county seat of Kent County, Michigan, United States. With a population of 198,917 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 200,117 in 2024, Grand Rapids is the List of municipalities ...

, Ada, Cascade, and Alpine) and Ottawa County (Marne, Coopersville, Allendale, and Polkton Township). In 2022, he was elected to a full term in the state Senate. In the August 2022 Republican primary election, he defeated Keith Hinkle. He won the November 2022 general election by a narrow margin, defeating Democratic nominee

David LaGrand David LaGrand (born August 13, 1966) is an American politician, lawyer, and businessman who has been the mayor of Grand Rapids, Michigan, since January 2025. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously represented the 75th district in the M ...

, a state representative from Grand Rapids. Huizenga received 63,754 votes (49.18%), edging LaGrand, who received 63,363 (48.88%); a Libertarian Party candidate, Theodore Petzold, received 2,516 votes (1.94%).

Tenure

In a 2013 guest column for ''

MLive MLive Media Group, originally known as Booth Newspapers, or Booth Michigan, is a media group that produces newspapers from the state of Michigan in Cleveland, Ohio. Founded by George Gough Booth with his two brothers, Booth Newspapers was sold t ...

'', Huizenga described himself as a "

free market In economics, a free market is an economic market (economics), system in which the prices of goods and services are determined by supply and demand expressed by sellers and buyers. Such markets, as modeled, operate without the intervention of ...

conservative"; in the column, he called for conservatives to lead on

renewable energy Renewable energy (also called green energy) is energy made from renewable resource, renewable natural resources that are replenished on a human lifetime, human timescale. The most widely used renewable energy types are solar energy, wind pow ...

, praised

wind energy Wind power is the use of wind energy to generate useful work. Historically, wind power was used by sails, windmills and windpumps, but today it is mostly used to generate electricity. This article deals only with wind power for electricity ...

, and criticized

fossil fuel subsidies Fossil fuel subsidies are energy subsidies on fossil fuels. Under a narrow definition, fossil fuel subsidies totalled around $1.5 trillion in 2022. Under more expansive definition, they totalled around $7 trillion. They may be tax breaks on c ...

(such as tax laws benefiting

coal-fired power plants Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is a type of ...

).Mark Huizenga
Conservatives must lead on renewable energy (guest column)
''MLive'' (December 26, 2013). He is a member of the leadership council of the Michigan Conservative Energy Forum. In 2016, Huizenga supported Republican-backed legislation to prohibit local municipalities from banning plastic bags. Huizenga was sworn in as a state senator in January 2023, at the beginning of the 102nd Michigan Legislature. In that session, Huizenga was a member of the Republican leadership team, holding the title of assistant

minority whip A whip is an official of a political party whose task is to ensure party discipline (that members of the party vote according to the party platform rather than their constituents, individual conscience or donors) in a legislature. Whips ...

. In 2023, Huizenga was the sole Republican to join all Democrats in support of legislation to ban "conversion therapy" in Michigan for persons under 18 years old.

Personal life

Huizenga is Christian Reformed. He is married and has three children. His daughter Elaina Huizenga, then a college student, was appointed in 2017 to the Walker Planning Commission; the mayor did not take part in the interviews of the candidates for the Planning Commission vacancy, and recused himself from the City Commission vote to appoint Elaina Huizenga.Jeffrey Cunningham
Walker officials name college student/mayor's daughter to Planning Commission
''MLive'' (December 22, 2017).

References

External links

Key Green Solutions

Mark Huizenga Systems Consulting
{{DEFAULTSORT:Huizenga, Mark Living people Calvin University alumni Aquinas College (Michigan) alumni Republican Party members of the Michigan House of Representatives Mayors of places in Michigan 21st-century members of the Michigan Legislature 1967 births