A Michigan U.S. House candidate who had President Donald Trump‘s endorsement lost to a guy who dropped out of the race weeks before election night.
On August 4, Trump-backed Amir Hassan was blown out of the Republican primary for Michigan’s 8th District by Thomas J. Smith, who had suspended his campaign on July 17 to throw his support behind another candidate. Smith remained on the ballot because the deadline to formally withdraw from the race had passed. Still, he scored over 50% of the vote while Hassan scored a mere 33%, per AP‘s tally. The candidate Smith endorsed, Al Lemmo, came in third.
In a statement, he said he was “humbled and honored” that Republicans have chosen him to run against first-term Democratic incumbent Kristen McDonald Rivet.
“I look forward to working with Speaker [Mike] Johnson and the entire Republican team to expand our House majority and advance President Trump’s America First agenda to lower costs for working families and make America affordable again,” he added.
While there are no definitive answers as to why Republicans in MI-08 voted for a candidate who wasn’t running, some GOP strategists have a theory.
“GOP base was reluctant to support a dude named Amir Hassan,” one strategist told Politico.
Indeed, when Trump gave his coveted Truth Social endorsement in July, the comments were flooded with people worried that Hassan is a Muslim (Hassan is a Christian, per his campaign website).
Hassan’s stunning loss marked the first time a Trump-endorsed Republican lost their primary, ending one of President Trump’s most-repeated Truth Social boasts about his anointed candidates having a 100% success rate in congressional elections.
The Daily Beast points out that that was only technically true. In two previous instances, Trump-endorsed candidates dropped out of their respective races before election night.
Texas Rep. Tony Gonzales dropped out of his race after admitting to an affair with a female staffer who later committed suicide. Oklahoma candidate Jackson Lahmeyer dropped out after a similar scandal.
Trump has also had candidates lose in state elections. His pick for Georgia governor, Burt Jones, lost to Rick Jackson. His pick for Iowa governor, Randy Feenstra, lost to Zach Lahn.
Smith will have a tough battle against Rivet, who won the district in 2024 even as Trump carried it comfortably. A GOP strategist characterized the 56-year-old rep to Politico as a “powerhouse.” She ran unopposed for the Democratic nomination.