Cheney is Trump’s last pro-impeachment scalp: The Republicans who crossed Trump at their peril

Liz Cheney’s 37-point primary defeat in Wyoming marks the end of Donald Trump‘s revenge tour on the 10 Republicans who voted to impeach him.

Just two have survived by the skin of their teeth – and for the rest it has either ended in calamity or the decision to retire rather than re-run – suggesting his stronghold on the party is here to stay. 

The former President has thrown his weight behind the rivals of those who backed investigations into January 6, and Republican supporters have sided with him in the majority of the cases. 

Cheney lost to Trump-backed Harriet Hageman by a whopping 37 points, the fourth worst by an incumbent since 1968. 

She has become the most prominent House Republican critic of Trump – currently serving as vice-chair of the House select committee on January 6.

But she’s paid the biggest price out of all her anti-Trump Republicans. She lost her No. 3 leadership position in the House Republican Conference and was expelled by Wyoming’s Republican Party.

The state’s voters in 2020 had voted Trump over President Joe Biden by about 43 points.

Crossing Trump has proved politically costly for candidates throughout the nation, but some have managed to both buck their party on Trump and win their primary. 

In Alaska, moderate Sen. Lisa Murkowski was able to hold onto the GOP nomination despite Trump meddling in the race on behalf of Kelly Tshibaka. 

On the Senate side, only Murkowski has had to face a reelection race since her vote. Sens. Richard Burr, North Carolina, and Pat Toomey, Pennsylvania., announced retirement this year,.

The other four Senators who voted to impeach did not face races this year. 

Four of the House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump, Reps. Anthony Gonzalez of Ohio, John Katko of New York, Fred Upton of Michigan and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois announced their retirement at the end of this term after voting to impeach Trump, denying the former president vengeance against them. 

Seven others, however, stayed in the fight. Here’s how they and others have fared: 

Rep. Jaime Herrera-Beutler, Washington

Pro-impeachment Republican Herrera-Beutler lost her primary to a pro-Trump candidate. After her first formidable challenge since taking office in 2011, she conceded her race last week after facing eight primary opponents. 

Trump-backed Green Beret Joe Kent will now face off against Democrat Marie Gluesenkamp Perez in November in the district ranked ‘solid Republican’ by Cook Political Report. In Washington’s jungle primary system, the top to candidates advance to November’s race, regardless of party, meaning Herrera-Beutler finished behind the Democrat.

‘Joe Kent just won an incredible race against all odds in Washington State,’ Trump said in a statement last Tuesday. ‘Importantly, he knocked out yet another impeacher, Jaime Herrera Beutler, who so stupidly played right into the hands of the Democrats.’

The four Republican pro-impeachment voters retiring

GOP Congressmen Anthony Gonzalez, John Katko, Adam Kinzinger and Fred Upton – who all backed the investigation into Trump – are retiring rather than running for re-election in November 2022.

Trump nemesis Adam Kinzinger, who has been one of the leading members of the January 6 committee, announced he was stepping aside after his family faced threats.

All four members who are stepping aside have been vocal about their opposition to Trump and their concerns for the future of the Republican party.  

Rep. Dan Newhouse, Washington

Newhouse, another Washingtonian, fared much better. The congressman faced six challengers, including Loren Culp, a former police chief backed by Trump, and cinched victory, making him one of only two impeachers to do so so far. 

Newhouse held onto the GOP nomination despite the Washington Republican Party calling on him to resign after his impeachment vote. He will now face Democrat Doug White in what Cook Political Report has deemed a ‘solid Republican’ race. 

Rep. Tom Rice, South Carolina

Rice was the first pro-impeachment Republican to lose his primary in June. He was defeated by former state Rep. Russell Fry by more than 25 percentage points, or around 22,500 votes.

Rep. Nancy Mace, South Carolina 

That same night South Carolinians in another district voted to keep Mace, who voted against impeachment but has since been critical of Trump’s actions leading up to Jan. 6. Trump endorsed her opponent Katie Arrington in February 2022, leading Mace to head to Trump tower to show off her pro-Trump bona fides. 

‘I’m in front of Trump Tower today,’ the South Carolina Republican said. ‘I remember in 2015 when President Trump announced his run, I was one of his earliest supporters.’

Mace talked about how she worked for his campaign in 2016 and then supported Trump again in 2020.

The congresswoman has staked out moderate positions elsewhere, publicly supporting codifying same-sex marriage and comparing GOP-led abortion restrictions to dystopian novel ‘The Handmaid’s Tale.’

Rep. Peter Meijer, Michigan

Meijer, a supermarket chain heir and military veteran, lost to Trump-backed John Gibbs in Michigan’s Third District after Democrats poured money into Gibbs’ campaign, viewing him as the easier Republican to beat as they hope to flip the seat. 

A former official in Trump’s Housing and Urban Development Department, Gibbs is also known for once pushing a wild conspiracy theory that Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign manager John Podesta engaged in satanic rituals using bodily fluids. 

Asked in a radio interview after race, Meijer said he had ‘not one’ regret about his vote to impeach Trump. ‘I would rather lose office with my character intact than stay reelected having made sacrifices of the soul.’ 

The race was decided by about 4,000 votes out of over 100,000 cast.  

 Rep. David Valadao, California

Trump curiously did not endorse a challenger to Valadao, despite his pro-impeachment vote. The California Republican originally served in the House from 2013-2019 before being ousted by a Democrat. He won back his seat in a 2021 rematch and voted to impeach Trump one day after being sworn in. 

Valadao has the backing of GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy, a Trump ally, and advanced from California’s jungle primary in June. He will take on Democrat California state Assembly member Rudy Salas in November. Due to redistricting Cook Political Report has rated the race as a toss-up. 

Rep. Mo Brooks, Alabama 

Brooks was beat by Trump-backed Katie Britt in the GOP primary to take over retiring Sen. Richard Shelby’s Senate seat.  

Trump initially endorsed, Brooks, a longtime election denier, but clawed back that support after Brooks slipped in the polls and called on his supporters to ‘move on’ from the 2020 election.

‘Mo Brooks of Alabama made a horrible mistake recently when he went ‘woke’ and stated, referring to the 2020 Presidential Election Scam, ‘Put that behind you, put that behind you,’ despite the fact that the Election was rife with fraud and irregularities,’ Trump wrote in a March statement, announcing he would no longer support Brooks. He never made another endorsement in the race.

Trump claimed Brooks tanked a ’44-point lead’ after he hired new campaign staff who ‘brilliantly’ told him to ‘stop talking about the 2020 election.’

‘He listened to them,’ Trump said. ‘Then, according to the polls, Mo’s 44-point lead totally evaporated all based on his ‘2020’ statement made at our massive rally in Cullman, Alabama.’

Brooks advised rallygoers in August to put 2020 ‘behind you,’ as Trump said, and was heckled by the crowd who shouted ‘no’ and booed.

‘Look forward, look forward, look forward. Beat them in 2022, beat them in 2024,’ he shouted over the boos. ‘Alright, we’ll look back at it, but go forward and take advantage of it. We’ve got to win in 2022, we’ve got to win in 2024, that’s what we’ve got to do.’

Arizona candidates 

Trump-backed candidates swept the field in Arizona earlier this month, where Blake Masters, a former COO at Thiel Capital and Trump’s candidate for Senate, won the primary, as did Kari Lake, an election-denying TV news anchor whom Trump had backed for governor. 

Lake beat out Karrin Taylor Robinson, a candidate endorsed by former Vice President Mike Pence. 

Trump also cinched wins in two other election deniers who won their primaries – Mark Finchem, the Republican nominee for secretary of state, and, the Republican nominee for state attorney general.

J.D. Vance, Ohio Senate candidate 

Vance’s win in the Ohio Senate race was widely credited to Trump. 

After trailing Club for Growth-backed Josh Mandel throughout the campaign, Vance – author of Hillbilly Elegy – forged a decisive lead after Trump delivered an endorsement in the month before the race.  

Vance finished about 9 percentage points ahead of Mandel.  

Dr. Mehmet Oz, Pa. Senate candidate 

Oz eked out a win over hedge fund CEO David McCormick in Pennsylvania after Trump said McCormick was soft on China and the ‘candidate of special interests and globalists and the Washington establishment.’

Oz has little connections to the state, however, and may lose the race for GOP Sen. Pat Toomey’s seat to Democrat Lt. Gov John Fetterman. In a recent Fox News poll Fetterman held an 11-point lead over his opponent.