Trump Pick in Michigan Loses to Candidate Who Dropped Out

Voters in one Michigan district on Tuesday handed President Trump an unexpected primary loss—via a candidate who had already called it quits. Thomas Smith, a low-profile Republican who reported raising just $1,850 and said in July he was suspending his campaign to back rival Al Lemmo, nonetheless won Tuesday's GOP primary in Michigan's 8th Congressional District, which includes Flint, NBC News reports. Smith had about half the vote, compared with 33% for Trump-endorsed Amir Hassan and 16% for Lemmo

Smith, a retired General Motors engineer who later launched a salsa business with his son, will face Democratic Rep. Kristen McDonald Rivet in a battleground district Trump carried by 2 points in 2024. In a statement, Smith said he is looking forward to working with House Speaker Mike Johnson "and the entire Republican team to expand our House majority and advance President Trump's America First agenda to lower costs for working families and make America affordable again."

Hassan is the only Trump-endorsed congressional candidate to lose so far this cycle. A GOP strategist speaking on condition of anonymity tells Politico that the Navy veteran and former law enforcement officer had "clear flaws as a candidate" and that the "GOP base was reluctant to support a dude named Amir Hassan."

• In a post on Truth Social Wednesday, Trump grumbled that the race was getting more attention than the ones where his picks won. "I was 28-1 last night on Endorsements, and numerous of them were outliers, but if you studied the Fake News, you would think it was just the opposite, 1-28," he wrote.