Congressman Peter Meyer, who ripped Democrats this week for funding his Trump-backed primary opponent, lost his bid for a second term to challenger John Gibbs in Michigan’s 3rd District on Tuesday.
Meyer, one of 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach President Donald Trump over last year’s Capitol riot — and who was earmarked for defeat by Trump as a result — conceded early Wednesday that the results showed that Gibbs leads by almost 4,000 votes with more than 88% of expected ballots counted.
“This has been a tough primary campaign and I want to thank everyone in West Michigan for their support. … I also want to congratulate my opponent, John Gibbs, on his victory tonight,” Meyer said in a statement, according to the Detroit Free Press.
“I am proud to have remained true to my principles, even when it came at a significant political cost,” he added.
Challenger John Gibbs toasted supporters ahead of his victory on Tuesday. AP Michigan residents voted in the state’s primary election on August 2, 2022. Getty Images contributor Peter Meyer was one of 10 Republicans who voted to impeach President Donald Trump last year. CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
Gibbs tweeted that Trump called him “congratulating me and my team on a big win tonight!”
Meyer on Monday called out the House Democratic campaign for what he called a “bare political gambit” by donating heavily to Gibbs in a transparent attempt to boost “the weaker Republican candidate before the November midterms.”
He said the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spent $435,000 on ad buys to promote Gibbs in the final days of the primary — more than Gibbs raised in his entire campaign and nearly 100 times more , than Trump has contributed through his Save America Super PAC.
I just got a call from President Trump congratulating me and my team on a big win tonight! Thank you, Mr. President, for your support! pic.twitter.com/43BZfvqBEo
— John Gibbs on MI-3 (@votejohngibbs) August 3, 2022
“In other words, Democrats aren’t just trying to lift a candidate over the finish line: They’re subsidizing his entire campaign,” the congressman wrote on the Common Sense website.
Meyer also criticized the hypocrisy of Democrats for supporting a conspiracy theorist who claims fraud cost Trump the 2020 election against someone who was among the first Republicans to recognize President Biden’s victory.
“[Y]you’d think Democrats would look at John Gibbs and see the embodiment of what they say they fear most. That as patriots they would use every tool at their disposal to defeat him and similar candidates they said were an existential threat,” the Republican wrote. “Instead, they’re funding Gibbs.”
Gibbs will face Hillary Scholten for a House seat that Democrats will be favored to bring back to the blue column in November.
Another Trump-backed candidate in Michigan, Tudor Dixon, emerged atop a crowded field to win the GOP gubernatorial primary.
She will challenge Democratic incumbent Gretchen Whitmer in November.
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