U.S. Rep. Tom Rice of South Carolina has been ousted from Congress in his Republican primary after voting in favor of the removal of Donald Trump by the Jan. 6 insurgency. He is the first of 10 House Republicans to vote to oust Trump for losing a re-election.
Rice, a five-term congressman, was defeated Tuesday by State Rep. Russell Fry, who received Trump’s support. Rice was a staunch supporter of Trump’s policies in Washington, but said he had no choice but to oust Trump for his failure to calm the mob that was violently seeking to stop certification of Joe Biden’s victory.
U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina also angered Trump, but tried to amend and won her Republican primary against her own Trump-backed rival.
In other races on Tuesday, Democratic Rep. Dina Titus in Nevada easily defeated her progressive rival, while Republican Rep. Mark Amodei took on a challenge from a son of one of the state’s most famous sports figures. In Maine, a former Republican congressman hopes to regain his seat in November in a rematch with the Democrat who defeated him four years ago.
In Texas, Republican Mayra Flores reduced Nancy Pelosi’s Democratic majority in the House by winning a special primary to serve the remaining months of former Democratic Rep. Filemon Vela’s term.
Key congressional races to follow in Tuesday’s primary election in Maine, Nevada, South Carolina and Texas:
Rice, who drew half a dozen Republican rivals after his vote to oust Trump, upheld his decision, acknowledging it could lead to his ouster, but said he was still conscious.
Fry, the whip of the House majority, has served in the South Carolina State House since 2015. Trump had campaigned with Fry earlier this year in the 7th Congressional District, a Republican stronghold that includes the Myrtle Beach tourist spot and a number of inland rural areas. areas.
Trump had sworn revenge against the 10 House Republicans who crossed the party lines to oust him. Four of the 10 decided not to seek re-election. A fifth, California MP David Valadao, is still awaiting the results of his primary election last week; fights for second place in a race where the top two finishers advance to the November general election.
Trump was less fortunate in his quest to oust Mace, who managed to withstand a major challenge Tuesday from former state Rep. Katie Arrington in the first congressional district of South Carolina, which includes Charleston. Despite her anger at Mace for criticizing him for his role in the January 6 Capitol uprising, he congratulated her on Tuesday and predicted she would win in November.
In his victory speech, Mace thanked his high-profile sponsors, including former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley and former White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney.
When asked how he would work to maintain the district, which has changed hands in the last two election cycles, Mace seemed to be committing himself to the same bipartisanship for which Arrington had criticized him.
“I’m willing to work with anyone who is willing to work with me, full stop,” Mace told reporters.
Unlike Rice, Mace tried to repair Trump’s anger. Earlier this year, she filmed a video in New York in front of the Trump Tower to remind her constituents that she was one of the former president’s first supporters.
Mace will face Democrat Annie Andrews in the general election.
Republicans have won an additional seat in the House for the rest of the year in a special election victory that they see as a sign of things to come on the strongly Hispanic South Texas border.
Flores will end the last months of the term of former Democrat MP Filemon Vela. He left Congress earlier this year for the private sector.
His victory Tuesday over three other rivals, including two Democrats, is a symbolically important victory for Republicans, who have spent the past two years aggressively trying to make new forays with Hispanic voters in South Texas.
Flores is the daughter of migrant workers and a local GOP organizer. She will also be the Republican candidate for the seat in November, but these elections will be held under a new district map that is more pro-Democrat.
His opponent will be Democratic MP Vicente Gonzalez, who moved from a neighboring district because of the redistricting.
Deputy Mark Amodei faces the main challenge of a perennial candidate with a famous last name.
Danny Tarkanian, the son of the legendary basketball coach at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Jerry Tarkanian, is trying to eliminate the six-term incumbent in the vast northern rural district that no Democrat has won in his 40s.
Over the years, Tarkanian has launched two campaigns in the Senate and lost numerous congressional nominations in two other districts. But in 2018 he caused quite a stir in a major challenge to Senator Dean Heller that Trump intervened to persuade him to leave and run again in the House.
Amodei won a special election for the seat in 2011 after Heller was appointed to cover an undefeated Senate term. A member of the House Appropriations Committee, Amodei has easily rejected previous major challenges in the past.
Titus, the dean of the Nevada Congressional delegation, easily overcame a progressive Amy Vilela challenge in the most liberal district in the state.
Vilela, who lost a primary bid in a neighboring district to MP Steven Horsford in 2018, had been endorsed by Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Rep. Cori Bush of Missouri.
Titus, who holds one of the most liberal voting records in Congress, was one of Biden’s main proponents during his 2020 presidential campaign. He has served six terms in the House and chairs a transportation subcommittee.
He has complained about how Nevada changed its congressional districts after the 2020 census, making its Democratic district a safe haven where registered party voters have only a one-digit margin.
A former congressman who wants to return to his former seat in Maine has endured a challenge from a fellow Republican.
Bruce Poliquin represented the second district of the Maine Congress from 2015 to 2019 until he lost to the current incumbent, Democratic Rep. Jared Golden. Golden’s victory over Poliquin was the first congressional election decided by a qualified vote in U.S. history.
This year, Poliquin hopes to win a rematch against Golden in one of the most watched races in the 2022 midterm elections. He avoided a challenge from Liz Caruso, the first selected woman in the small town of Caratunk, in Tuesday’s primaries.
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