(PatriotWise.com)- Former President Donald Trump was successful in primarying another Republican congressman who voted for his impeachment when he was in the White House.
On Tuesday, John Gibbs, who received Trump’s official endorsement, took down incumbent Representative Peter Meijer in a GOP primary race for a seat on the House.
The election went down to the wire, with both candidates swapping the lead at different points throughout the day. In the end, though, Trump’s candidate pulled it out, winning by a little more than 5,000 total votes.
Just after midnight on Wednesday morning, Dave Wasserman of the Cook Political Report tweeted about the election:
“I’ve seen enough: Trump-endorsed John Gibbs (R) defeats pro-impeachment Rep. Peter Meijer (R) in the #MI03 GOP primary and will face Hillary Scholten (D) in November.
“Rating change: @CookPolitical will be moving #MI03 from Toss Up to Lean D.”
Trump has been behind Gibbs for some time now. In fact, he endorsed the now-GOP nominee way back in November of 2021, when he announced that he would be challenging Meijer in the primary for the seat in the House representing Michigan’s third congressional district.
After the insurrection at the Capitol building on January 6, 2021, Meijer was one of 10 Republicans in the House to vote in favor of impeaching Trump. That instantly turned Trump against Meijer, and ultimately led to the demise of his political aspirations.
Meijer, who was looking to earn a second term in Congress, defended his decision to vote for Trump’s impeachment when he said:
“I take the oath I swore to the Constitution, an oath I took under God, seriously and have voted accordingly.”
What’s very interesting is that it wasn’t just Trump who was behind Gibbs. Democrats spent a lot of money campaigning for Gibbs as well, as they felt that he would be a much better matchup for their candidate in the district — Scholten — than the incumbent Meijer would.
As Wasserman pointed out in his tweet, Gibbs’ victory actually changed the Cook Political Report’s projection for the district from being a toss up to one that slightly favors Democrats. Those are only preliminary projections, of course, and not a definitive look into what the future holds for this crucial race in a crucial midterm election cycle.
Gibbs has long held ties to Trump. He worked under Ben Carson, the secretary of Housing and Urban Development, during the Trump administration. Back in 2016, Gibbs even wrote a column in The Federalist that supported Trump’s bid for the presidency.
Last December, Gibbs attacked Meijer’s decision to vote for Trump’s impeachment when he wrote:
“By voting to impeach President Trump, RINO Peter Meijer chose to be fawned over by the media & the DC establishment instead of doing what’s right & representing those who voted for him.”
Trump hasn’t been successful with every midterm candidate he’s backed thus far, but he is winning some of the ones that are seemingly the most important and personal to him, including this recent takedown of Meijer in Michigan.
