Whether the Trump-inspired primary challengers will succeed is far from clear. Dislodging a titleholder is notoriously difficult, and Republican leaders must act aggressively to protect their members. But the initial activity illustrates the degree to which Trump’s loyal allies are determined to make their critics pay a price.
“Liz’s stance was very controversial here in Wyoming,” said Republican Bryan Miller, a retired Air Force officer who is due to run against Dep. Liz Cheney, a Republican Party leader who vocally supported Trump’s impeachment. “This is not going to be a passing thing that just goes away. It is growing and growing and growing every day across the state. People are unhappy. “
Miller is not alone. Cheney drew opposition from several other Republicans, including Senator Anthony Bouchard, who called Cheney “out of reach” for his criticism of the former president.
Newly elected MP Peter Meijer of Michigan, another impeachment advocate, is being questioned by Afghan war veteran Tom Norton, who appeared on the podcast of former Trump adviser Steve Bannon to promote his candidacy. Gene Koprowski, a former employee at the Heartland Institute, is already running against Congressman Adam Kinzinger of Illinois. In Ohio, former state deputy Christina Hagan is not ruling out a primary election against Republican deputy Anthony Gonzalez.
“I have never seen a greater reaction to any vote taken by a single member of our Republican Congressional delegation in Ohio,” said Hagan, who lost a primary to Gonzalez when the seat was opened in 2018. “I have heard from Republicans in positions of power, within party leadership and across the spectrum of loyal volunteers and business leaders across the region who are expressing serious frustration and disgust. “
Pro-Trump donors are joining the attack. Suzie Burke, a Seattle real estate executive who contributed to Congressman Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-Wash.) In the years leading up to the congresswoman’s impeachment vote, she said she “wouldn’t be helping people who chose to rush to placate across the hall. ”
Hossein Khorram, a former Washington state-based Trump finance committee official who gave more than $ 100,000 to pro-Trump causes during the election, said he was also turning off the tap.
“I personally know the members of Washington State Congress who voted for Trump’s impeachment. Our friendship will continue, but there is no more financial support from me. In my opinion, they just retired from Congress, ”said Khorram, a real estate developer who has already donated to Rep. Dan Newhouse, another Republican in the state who supported the impeachment.
External groups with many pockets are also engaging. Chris Ekstrom, chairman of the courageous Conservatives’ political action committee, said his organization will focus on defeating Cheney, Gonzalez and South Carolina’s deputy Tom Rice.
“They are all vulnerable. Some things stay in politics and I think this outrageous betrayal will last, ”said Ekstrom. “Examples will be made.”
Ekstrom, a Dallas investor, said he was beginning to contact Texas-based Trump donors to raise money for the effort.
People close to Trump say he is particularly obsessed with the Republicans who supported the impeachment and is determined to withdraw them. The former president has raised more than $ 200 million since the election, much of which has been directed to a new committee that could be used to support primary opponents. Trump’s advisers are also working on creating a political apparatus that can be deployed in the 2022 elections.
While Trump is out of the White House, the Republican still faces an enigma: how to appease his tens of millions of supporters, many of whom remain convinced that the election was stolen and insist that Trump is not to blame for the Jan. 6 riot. Party officials admit that they need to keep Trump’s supporters in the fold and say that not doing so will complicate their political fortunes in 2022 and beyond.
With the Senate impeachment trial approaching, attention is turning to Republican lawmakers in that chamber, who must decide whether to vote to condemn Trump. Several incumbents face potentially challenging general electoral disputes, and their prospects may be further complicated by primary struggles. Trump has already said he wants to oust Sens Republicans. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and John Thune (SD) for not supporting their initiative to subvert election results.
But some Republicans argue that any political fallout for impeachment advocates will be short-lived. They insist that among Republican Party voters there was widespread disgust about Trump’s role in the uprising and say that many are in favor of impeachment.
Rice, a five-term South Carolina congressman from the conservative northeastern part of the state, said most people he heard expressed disapproval of his vote. But he said he also obtained positive feedback from hundreds of people across the country, including some who offered contributions to the campaign.
“There are several people who have expressed their discontent obviously and others who are happy with a vote of principle. I didn’t take an oath to Donald Trump, I didn’t take an oath to the Republican Party, I took an oath to defend the Constitution. That’s what I intend to do, ”said Rice.
Trump’s forces will face major obstacles to defeating any of the pro-impeachment Republicans. Cheney, the House’s third Republican, raised nearly $ 3 million during the 2020 election cycle and will certainly have a substantial campaign account in 2022. Cheney is also a well-known commodity in the state: she is the daughter of the former vice president and former Wyoming congressman Dick Cheney.
The rush to face Cheney may make it more difficult to topple her – a trend that can occur in other districts as well. With several candidates in the race, the main challengers face the prospect of fragmenting their support and giving the congresswoman in three terms an easy path to victory.
To further complicate matters, there is redistricting, the design that occurs once in a decade along the lines of Congress that determine where House candidates seek the election. Hagan said he was hoping for clarity on how the Ohio map would be reconfigured.
But even at this early stage in the mid-term electoral cycle, the impeachment vote is hanging over the minds of Republicans.
Rice said she did not want to advise senators on how they should vote in Trump’s trial. But he noted that the siege of the Capitol put the lives of lawmakers at risk, including many who had been loyal to the president. The deputy recalls that he took shelter in a security room, not knowing if someone outside had a gun. Meanwhile, Rice said, Trump did nothing to contain the violence.
“If this isn’t serious crimes and misdemeanors, I don’t know what is,” said Rice. “I don’t know what it would take.”