Republican Rep Peter Meijer mentioned he had no regrets about voting to question former President Donald Trump days after he was defeated for re-nomination in his congressional major in Michigan.
“I would rather lose office with my character intact than stay reelected having made sacrifices of the soul,” Mr Meijer mentioned on the Sirius XM programme Julie Mason Mornings.
Mr Meijer was one in every of simply 10 Republicans who voted to question Mr Trump for incitement of rebel following the January 6 Capitol riot. The House of Representatives impeached Mr Trump for a second time on 13 January of final yr, every week following the riot, however the US Senate acquited him weeks later.
In the months since, Mr Trump has made it one in every of his political goals to finish the careers of the congressional Republicans who broke ranks to vote for his elimination. In some races, like two in Washington state on Tuesday evening, he’s been unsuccessful.
In others, like Mr Meijer’s, voters have granted the previous president his want. Mr Meijer, who was first elected to Congress to signify a district centred on Grand Rapids in western Michigan in 2020, confronted a problem from far-right former Trump administration official John Gibbs.
In addition to Mr Trump’s endorsement, Mr Gibbs additionally obtained an help from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which bought ads within the remaining days of the race to spice up his profile within the perception that he would make a weaker common election candidate than Mr Meijer.
In the top, by a slender margin, the DCCC obtained what it wished: Mr Gibbs defeated Mr Meijer by a margin of fewer than 4,000 votes. Mr Gibbs will now face Democratic nominee Hillary Scholten in a common election matchup that the Cook Political Report believes Ms Scholten is a slight favorite to win.
Mr Meijer’s political profession, for now, is over. In the looks on Sirius XM, he praised a choose variety of his Republican colleagues for his or her willingness to sacrifice their political fortunes to do what is true.
“It’s certainly been a chaotic period and a period where I’ve seen the importance of leadership and the importance of people willing to say this is wrong, but also the heavy political cost that that carries,” Mr Meijer mentioned. “I’m proud of some of my colleagues who have been willing to fall on their swords rather than find ways of excusing or find ways of rationalizing the unacceptable or ignoring the glaring problems that are staring us in the face.”
Nevertheless, Mr Meijer’s dedication to his rules could solely go to date. On Wednesday, following his major defeat, Mr Meijer launched and congratulated Mr Gibbs as a Republican unity occasion and wished him the “best of luck” within the coming election.
