OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
An Iraq War veteran who was one of 10 Republicans to sign on to the second impeachment of then-President Donald Trump is one and done in congressional terms.
Rep. Peter Meijer, elected in 2020, has lost his GOP primary to a conservative challenger backed by the former president and whose campaign was also funded in large part by Democrats.
John Gibbs has become the Republican nominee running in Michigan’s 3rd District in November, according to the New York Post, which added:
Meijer, one of 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach President Donald Trump over last year’s Capitol riot — and who was targeted for defeat by Trump as a result — conceded early Wednesday with results showing Gibbs ahead by almost 4,000 votes with more than 88% of the expected ballots counted.
“This was a hard-fought primary campaign and I want to thank everyone in west Michigan for their support. … I also want to congratulate my opponent, John Gibbs, on his victory tonight,” Meijer said in a statement to the Detroit Free Press.
“I’m proud to have remained true to my principles, even when doing so came at a significant political cost,” he noted further.
Gibbs worked for the Trump administration at Housing and Urban Development, which was run by Dr. Ben Carson, who served the former president’s entire term.
Just got a call from President Trump, congratulating me and my team on tonight’s big win! Thank you, Mr. President for your support! pic.twitter.com/43BZfvqBEo
— John Gibbs for MI-3 (@votejohngibbs) August 3, 2022
My statement on last night’s historic primary victory: pic.twitter.com/LMGwiAzJmz
— John Gibbs for MI-3 (@votejohngibbs) August 3, 2022
Gibbs noted on Twitter that Trump called “congratulating me and my team on tonight’s big win!”
Earlier, Meijer blasted House Democrats for supporting what he termed a “naked political gambit” by donating heavily to Gibbs’ campaign in a blatant attempt to give the advantage to the “weaker Republican candidate ahead of the November midterms.”
He added that the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spent $435,000 on ads to boost Gibbs in the closing days of the primary campaign, which was more than Gibbs himself had raised throughout his entire campaign and almost 100 times more than Trump contributed through is Save America Super PAC, The Post noted.
“In other words, the Democrats are not merely attempting to boost a candidate over the finish line: They are subsidizing his entire campaign,” the congressman wrote on the website Common Sense.
The Post added:
Meijer also blasted the hypocrisy of the Democrats for backing a conspiracy theorist who claims that fraud cost Trump the 2020 election against someone who was among the first Republicans to recognize President Biden’s win.
“[Y]ou would think that the Democrats would look at John Gibbs and see the embodiment of what they say they most fear. That as patriots they would use every tool at their disposal to defeat him and similar candidates that they’ve said are an existential threat,” the outgoing Republican lawmaker wrote. “Instead they are funding Gibbs.”
Gibbs will be facing Democratic nominee Hillary Scholten, who The Post says is favored to flip the seat back to blue in the November midterms.
Meanwhile, Trump-backed GOP gubernatorial candidate Tudor Dixon came out on top of a crowded Republican field to face incumbent Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in the fall.
Around the country, many of Trump’s candidates did well, including in Arizona, where his choice for the U.S. Senate — Blake Masters, a former chief operating officer of the investment firm Thiel Capital — handily won his primary election. He beat out, among others, businessman Jim Lamon, state Attorney General Mark Brnovich and Michael McGuire, a retired National Guard major general.
Trump endorsed Masters in June.
The Arizona Republican Party congratulated Blake on his victory Wednesday morning.
“Congratulations to Blake on winning the Republican primary in Arizona. Blake fought hard against several well-qualified GOP candidates. He’s a great candidate who’s well-positioned to beat Mark Kelly in November,” the state party’s chairman, Rick Scott, said in a statement published on the party’s website.
“D.C. Darling Mark Kelly has completely abandoned Arizona. He votes with Joe Biden over 94% of the time while hardworking Arizonans are being crushed by soaring prices and the Biden-Kelly border crisis,” Scott continued.
Another of Trump’s Arizona picks, former Phoenix-area newscaster Kari Lake, who is running for governor, is currently leading in her race but it has yet to be called.
