- Former U.S. Representative Justin Amash, who left the Republican Party in 2019 over Trump’s impeachment, has announced that he will run for the Michigan Senate seat as a Republican.
- Amash, who represented Grand Rapids from 2011 to 2021, joins Mike Rogers, Peter Meyer and businessman Sandy Pensler on the Republican ticket.
- Mr. Amash appears to have returned to the party, but said in his announcement that he is “independent.”
Former U.S. Rep. Justin Amash, who left the Republican Party in 2019 to seek the impeachment of then-President Donald Trump, announced Thursday that he will run as a Republican for Michigan’s U.S. Senate seat.
Amash, who represented Grand Rapids from 2011 to 2021, is the third former U.S. lawmaker to join the Republican campaign for Michigan’s open Senate seat. Former U.S. Reps. Mike Rogers and Peter Meyer have also announced they will campaign for the Republican Party, as has businessman Sandy Pensler.
“I believe there is no candidate in a better position to win both the Republican primary and general election,” Amash said on social media platform X (formerly Twitter). “That’s why today I am officially announcing my participation in the Michigan Senate race.”
Former Republican Rep. Justin Amash seeks to join Michigan’s crowded Senate seat
The decision to jump into the Republican primary came after Amash left the party to become an independent. He was the only House Republican to support an impeachment inquiry into President Trump in 2019.
Michigan Republican Rep. Justin Amash stands on the House steps of the Capitol on March 27, 2020. Amash, who left the Republican Party in 2019 after calling for then-President Donald Trump’s impeachment, announced his candidacy as a Republican. Michigan State Senate on Thursday. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc, via Getty Images)
He did not seek reelection to Congress after his fifth term, choosing instead to pursue the Libertarian Party’s presidential nomination. At the time, Amash said millions of Americans feel unrepresented by either major political party.
Amash appears to have returned to the party, pledging in a statement that if elected he would be an “independent-minded senator ready to challenge anyone on behalf of the people.”
Amash, whose father is Palestinian and mother is Syrian, is the first Palestinian-American member of Congress. Earlier this year, Amash said on social media that several of his relatives were killed in Israeli bombings of churches in Gaza City.
Michigan’s Senate race is expected to be the only competitive open seat in the country this year. Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow announced last January that she would not seek reelection, though she has served in the Senate since 2001.
On the Democratic side, Rep. Elissa Slotkin is considered the frontrunner for the nomination, overwhelmingly out-raising other candidates, raising 11.7 million from the start of her campaign in February 2023 to the end of the same year. Collected dollars.
Rogers served seven terms in the U.S. House of Representatives and led all Republicans in fundraising. The Republican race is expected to be competitive, and Meier and Pensler each have the ability to self-fund at least some of their campaigns. Former Detroit Police Chief James Craig withdrew his candidacy for the Republican Party earlier this month.
Former lawmaker Justin Amash says family was killed in Gaza church after Israeli airstrike
Mr. Amash and Mr. Meyer, both of Grand Rapids, will each face the difficult task of overcoming their past support for impeaching Trump. Meyer was among 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump in 2021 following the Jan. 6, 2021, mob siege of the Capitol.
Mr. Trump has significant influence over Michigan’s Republican Party, and his support for the Senate seat could have a dramatic impact on the outcome of the race.
Republicans haven’t won a Michigan Senate race since 1994.
Defending the Michigan seat could be critical to Democrats maintaining their 51-49 majority in the Senate, but they also hold seats in Republican-leaning states from West Virginia to Montana to Ohio. In order to protect the company, it is exposed to severe headwinds.
