MI-04 incumbent Huizenga continues to skip in-person town halls, both as candidate and congressman

Every Friday afternoon since February 2025, protesters have gathered outside Congressman Bill Huizenga’s (R-MI) district office in Holland, Mich., to object to his practice of holding town hall meetings via phone. 

The protests, organized by the local Holland-Zeeland chapter of progressive activist group Indivisible, have nicknamed the Republican congressman “Hide-Zenga” and call him cowardly, particularly in a race as close as the one in Michigan’s 4th Congressional District. Most polls show the incumbent Huizenga and his Democratic challenger, Sean McCann, separated by just a few points.

Huizenga’s campaign did not respond to Heartland’s request for comment.

In March 2025, a representative for Huizenga’s office told FOX 17 West Michigan that his tele-town halls were the most effective way to reach his constituents — “reaching nearly 100,000 residents.” But naysayers say the practice allowed Huizenga’s campaign to screen questions and limit spontaneous back-and-forth.

Town hall meetings typically give voters a chance to question candidates face to face and watch how they react to the question and the crowd. Huizenga’s constituents haven’t had that opportunity. 

Huizenga has said the phone format was a way to eliminate what he called disruptive protesters who sometimes showed up at live events, usually upset with his support of President Donald Trump.

“I know this may not be satisfactory to some who would like to just create a scene and be, you know, be disruptive,” Huizenga said during a March 2025 tele-town hall, according to the Associated Press.

He is one of several Republicans who switched to telephone town halls over the past year after GOP leaders advised lawmakers to skip live town hall events. Protesters had been packing those events to denounce cuts in the federal government led by billionaire Elon Musk when he ran the newly created Department of Government Efficiency, known as DOGE, and lawmakers struggled to defend the cuts.

In a statement responding to Heartland’s questions, McCann’s campaign said Huizenga is using phone town halls to dodge tough questions. 

“Bill Huizenga has serious questions to answer about his record: making health care less affordable and accessible, supporting a war in Iran that has squeezed families’ wallets, and resisting restrictions on congressional stock trading while his own wealth has grown fivefold,” the statement read. “Southwest Michigan families deserve answers about whose interests he’s serving and whether he’s more focused on enriching himself than helping the people he represents. Those are questions he should be willing to answer face-to-face.”

Beth Matthews, a spokesperson for the Ottawa County Democrats, said Huizenga’s decision to stop holding in-person town hall meetings was antithetical to his job.

“Bill Huizenga’s title is ‘Representative,’ and gathering input from constituents is literally his job,” Matthews told Heartland in an email.

Huizenga also changed how his district offices handle visitors, requiring appointments for in-person meetings and routing some callers to voicemail or online forms. Critics said the change reduced open access to an elected official.

“Local organizers began visiting his office to raise concerns about the constitutionality of Trump’s actions,” Matthews said. “After several visits, a Ring camera appeared on his office door, and constituents were no longer allowed inside. Calls went unanswered, and emails requesting appointments received no response. Organizers then began holding Friday office visits, taking advantage of days typically reserved for constituent business. These visits continue.”

Matthews said Huizenga has met in-person with constituents that were outside his office only once since the protests began, in April 2025, and has only recently been canvassing door-to-door.

“The pattern is clear: Huizenga has repeatedly avoided meaningful engagement with the people he represents,” Matthews said. “His recent door-to-door canvassing for the first time suggests he may finally recognize that corporate money alone won’t guarantee his reelection. But he still seems to miss the point: listening to constituents isn’t a political strategy; it’s the job.”

Huizenga avoided in-person town hall meetings throughout the campaign, but the outcome of the race will likely hinge on how many voters show up in person at the polls Nov. 3.