Following the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, 10 House Republicans broke ranks and joined Democrats in voting to impeach then-President Donald Trump.
At least eight of those members won’t get reelected.
BY THE NUMBERS, REPUBLICANS WHO VOTED TO IMPEACH TRUMP:
- 4: Republicans who opted not to seek reelection
- 4: Republicans who lost renomination
- 2: Republicans who won renomination and will be up for reelection in the fall
Only two of the members, Reps. Dan Newhouse of Washington and David Valado of California, won their respective midterm primaries this year.
On Tuesday, Rep. Liz Cheney, the most prominent of the 10 Republicans who voted to impeach Trump, soundly lost renomination in the Wyoming House race. Prior to her vote, she was the third-most powerful member of the GOP caucus.
Now, she is the vice-chair of the Democrat-led Jan. 6 Committee. Her term expires at the start of 2023.
Cheney and others recognized the political risk involved with opposing Trump.
“Two years ago, I won this primary with 73% of the vote. I could easily have done the same again,” Cheney said after conceding Tuesday night. “The path was clear, but it would have required that I go along with President Trump's lie about the 2020 election.”
She is not alone in not making it to the general election. Reps. Pete Meijer, Tom Rice and Jaime Herrera Beutler all lost renomination bids.
Reps. Adam Kinzinger, Fred Upton, John Katko and Anthony Gonzalez opted not to seek reelection knowing they would likely face tough renomination battles.
Kinzinger is the only other Republican serving on the Jan. 6 Committee.
“She has fought a valiant fight,” Kinzinger told CNN. “I think it says a lot about the party that we're quick to say defund the FBI and support a guy like Donald Trump."
While eight aren’t on general election ballots in November, Newhouse and Valado will have the opportunity to return to Congress in January.
Newhouse ran in Washington, which has a primary where Democrats, Republicans and independents appear on the same primary ballot with the top two candidates advancing to the general election. Newhouse came in first, just ahead of Democrat Doug White. But Newhouse faced steep competition from Republican Loren Culp.
Valado held off a pair of challengers in his renomination bid.
In the Senate, seven Republicans voted to convict Trump. Four of the senators were not up for reelection this fall, and two, Sens. Richard Burr and Pat Toomey, had previously announced they would not seek reelection.
Only Sen. Lisa Murkowski sought reelection among the seven. She garnered enough votes to be among the four candidates to advance to the November general election.
