He quit the race in July, then won Michigan's GOP primary
Thomas Smith, who suspended his campaign and reported raising $1,850, took just over 50% of the vote in the 8th District and beat President Trump's endorsed candidate, CBS News projected.
A Republican who suspended his congressional campaign in mid-July won Michigan's 8th District primary on Tuesday, defeating the candidate President Donald Trump had endorsed, CBS News projected.
Thomas Smith took just over 50% of the vote. He had quit the race weeks earlier and, on the way out, recorded a video endorsement of another candidate, Al Lemmo. Lemmo finished third.
Smith's campaign website describes him as a salsa entrepreneur and a retired General Motors engineer. His fundraising was minimal. In a handwritten letter to the Federal Election Commission dated July 12, he disclosed raising $1,850 through June 30. He also appeared to have trouble with the commission's filing system, adding in a postscript: "I could not file this form electronically because I have had no success logging in and have not been able to get a response from the help desk."
The candidate he beat, Amir Hassan, is a Navy veteran with a background in federal law enforcement. Trump had endorsed him and appeared with him and other Republican candidates at an event in Milford, Michigan, a few days before the primary.
"Disappointed not defeated," Hassan wrote in a post on X.
Hassan is so far the only Trump-endorsed House candidate to lose a primary this midterm cycle. Speaking in Las Vegas on Wednesday, the president referred to the loss without naming him.
"I endorsed a lot of candidates, and the end result — I was 28 wins and one loss," Trump said. "It was a little bit of a person that I thought was a good person. Didn't have much of a chance, but I said, 'I don't care, I'm doing it anyway.'" He added: "Good person, very good, very respected, but nobody knew who the person was."
Smith has since revived his campaign. "I am humbled and honored that Republicans have chosen me to take the fight to Kristen McDonald Rivet," he said in a statement to the Detroit News, referring to the Democratic incumbent.
The 8th District, which covers Flint and other parts of central Michigan, is one of 13 House seats where voters elected a Democrat to Congress in 2024 while backing Trump for president.
This article was produced with the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI), in accordance with our editorial policy.
