Politics can make strange bedfellows, and in Michigan, there’s a chance that the GOP that Donald Trump and one of his biggest opponents in Congress may both be on the Republican ballot next November.
Meijer, 35, of Grand Rapids Township, is an Iraq War veteran and grandson of the founder of the Meijer supermarket chain. He was elected in 2020 to succeed U.S. Rep. Justin Amash to represent the Grand Rapids area in Congress, but lost reelection in 2022 after facing blowback from Republicans for voting to impeach former President Donald Trump over the Jan. 6, 2021 riots at the U.S. Capitol.
“My wife and I prayed hard about this race and how we can best serve our state and our nation. We considered every aspect of the campaign, and are confident we have the best chance of taking back this seat for the Republicans and fighting hard for a conservative future,” Meijer said in a statement.“We are in dark and uncertain times, but we have made it through worse. The challenges are great, but so is our country. If we are to see another great American century, we need leaders who aren’t afraid to be bold, will do the work, and can’t be bought.”
Meijer brings to the race a widely recognized Michigan name, fundraising prowess and the potential to appeal to swing voters, though some GOP strategists have questioned his ability to win a primary election that could be swayed by former President Donald Trump, whom he voted to impeach, reports The Detroit News.
When he left Congress, New Conservative Post reported in the fall, Meijer warned Republicans that “chasing after conspiracy theories” would hand Democrats a ‘tangible advantage’ with voters.
“So much of the energy is ultimately expended down avenues that are just hamster wheels. I think that gives Democrats a tangible advantage,” Meijer told Politico. “We saw that electorally, when they can at least pretend to be speaking to issues and not seem crazy, even if they are unwilling to change their policy outcomes that are not making those issues better.
“At least rhetorically, they seem to be coming from a more reality-grounded place,” he added.
In 2023, Meijer was part of a “hit list” posted by Donald Trump, who was bragging about Republicans he helped defeat in that year’s primary.
Unfortunately for Republicans, however, the former president’s handpicked nominee for Congress then went on to lose the general election, handing what was once a “safe Republican” seat to the Democrats.
Michigan will be a vital swing state in the 2024 election. Democrats in the Great Lakes State have been in full panic over the reaction to the large Muslim population to Biden’s pro-Israel stance. NBC reported, “A new survey conducted by one of Joe Biden’s former pollsters shows the president’s support has cratered among Muslim and Arab Democrats in Michigan, a key demographic group that overwhelmingly backed Biden in the swing state in 2020.
The poll lends further credence to the warnings Arab and Muslim community leaders in Michigan and beyond have been issuing for weeks: that Biden’s handling of the war in Gaza could cost him a state that he won by just 150,000 votes in 2020 and is home to an estimated 240,000 Muslims.”
Nothin has revealed this conundrum more than the actions of the likely Democratic nominee for the the Senate, Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin. The only Jewish member of the Michigan congressional delegation, she attacked fellow Michigander and “Squad” member Rashida Tlaib for defending a call for genocide against Israel, but has also voted against funding bill to offer aid to America’s strongest ally in the Middle East.
In 2016, Donald Trump became the first Republican in decades to win the state of Michigan, narrowly defeating Hillary Clinton there by a quarter of a percent. In 2020, Michigan returned to the blue column, with a majority of the vote going to Biden.
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