Republican Representative Jaime Herrera Beutler was unsuccessful in her bid for reelection in a primary election held in the state of Washington.
This is the latest setback for the group of ten Republicans in the House of Representatives who voted to impeach then-President Donald Trump in the beginning of last year.
On Tuesday, Herrera Beutler admitted that she would not place in the top two of the all-party primary race for the 3rd Congressional District in her state.
In its place, the election will pit Republican Joe Kent, who has been endorsed by Trump, against Democrat Marie Gluesenkamp Pérez.
Even though the primary was on August 2, the counting of votes for the all-mail primary has been going on continuously throughout the past week.
In order to show his sympathy for those who participated in the riots on January 6, Kent went to the “Justice for J6” event in Washington, District of Columbia.
There was also competition for Herrera Beutler from the conservative candidate Heidi St. John, who posed the risk of dividing the vote against the incumbent in a way that would benefit Herrera Beutler.
However, Kent crossed the finish line only a hair ahead of her.
Herrera Beutler, who was first elected to the House of Representatives in 2010, is a member of the House Republican Conference who is held in high regard.
On the airwaves, she and her friends had a significant financial advantage over her opponents.
She spent approximately $1.7 million on television advertisements, while Winning for Women, an organisation devoted to electing Republican women, spent even more.
Only $620,000 was spent by Kent, which is a small fraction of what the incumbent’s supporters spent.
However, in the last days of the campaign, he participated in a televised town hall with Donald Trump.
His triumph is evidence of the effectiveness of the vote to impeach the president.
Both in this election and in the contest for governor of Michigan, candidates backed by President Trump were able to overcome significant budget deficits and defeat incumbents who were well-funded and supported impeachment.
After Representatives Peter Meijer (R-Michigan) and Tom Rice, Herrera Beutler is the latest Republican impeachment supporter to suffer defeat in a party primary this year (R-S.C.).
Another two, Representatives Dan Newhouse (R-Washington) and David Valadao (R-California), made it through their respective all-party primary to advance to the general elections for their respective seats.
And four lawmakers, Representatives Anthony Gonzalez (Republican of Ohio), John Katko (Republican of New York), Adam Kinzinger (Republican of Illinois), and Fred Upton (Republican of Michigan), have decided not to seek reelection.
Rep. Liz Cheney, a Republican from Wyoming, will be the last GOP impeachment supporter to face primary voters in her state the next week.
In 2019, Kent, a former Green Beret, tragically lost his wife when she was killed by a suicide bomber.
He rose to prominence in the conservative media, but he also has connections to the most extreme elements of the right.
Additionally, he has been known to criticise the leadership of the GOP.
According to comments that Kent made to POLITICO, “I’ve gone out from the outset and stated that Kevin McCarthy can’t be our speaker.”
Different strategies have been explored by Republicans in the face of Trump’s rage to deal with the aftermath from the impeachment.
While other candidates, such as Kent, have attacked the incumbent on the subject, Herrera Beutler has maintained that she will not change her vote; nonetheless, she has refrained from making it a central focus of her campaign.
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Since Trump’s victory in the district in 2020 was by a margin of less than 5 points, it was reasonable to anticipate that a Democrat would win one of the seats in the general election.
Despite the fact that Herrera Beutler had to fight to keep her seat during the Democratic wave in 2018, the seat is not being considered a contest this year; nonetheless, it remains to be seen how Kent will perform as a contender in the general election.
