WALKER, Mich. — State Rep. Mark Huizenga (R-Walker) decidedly won a special election Tuesday to fill the vacated 28th District state Senate seat.
Huizenga recieved roughly 60% of the vote, easily besting three other candidates vying to fill the remaining one-year left in the term of former state Sen. Peter MacGregor, who left after being elected Kent County Treasurer last year.
“We're just pleased about the hard work that all of our team has put into [the campaign] I'm humbled by the numbers. I know that people had to come out as special election, do the work and support me, it means a lot to me. And I look forward to supporting them back in Lansing as a Senator,” Huizenga told FOX 17 Tuesday.
This 28th district is historically red and is largely made up of the area of Kent County north and west of Grand Rapids. Huzienga was the clear favorite in the race, after winning a tightly-contested GOP primary earlier this year.
The former mayor of Walker and small business owner, says he ran for the seat to represent more people in Lansing and make sure taxpayer money is being spent responsibly, including the billions in federal COVID relief dollars still sitting on the table.
“It's almost certain that we'll never see a scenario like this come to pass like this again. So it's our job to work tenaciously to be judicious with those dollars to make sure we do the right thing with it. Whether it's infrastructure, or we've got some ideas about innovation and how we can help create and incubate new businesses in West Michigan, things that are going to be good for generations, and to stand up and do the right thing,” Huizenga told FOX 17 Tuesday.
“It's going to be hard. There's lots of different opportunities, people are coming out of the woodwork for great ideas, but we'll have to filter through those things, and to do the right thing. Remember, these are all hardworking taxpayer dollars,” he added.
After serving this next year, Huizenga says he plans on running for Senate again after districts are redrawn, and he wiil run in the district Walker is in.
“I do not plan on moving,” he added.
Former Kent County Commissioner Democrat Keith Courtade finished in second place, receiving roughly 36%of the vote.
Unofficial results can be viewed,here.
