Michigan retiree who dropped out of race scores upset of Trump-endorsed candidate in primary
by George Caldwell · The Washington TimesA Michigan autoworker with virtually no money defeated a Trump-endorsed candidate in a shocking Republican primary upset Tuesday — a month after he had ended his campaign.
Thomas Smith, a retired engineer for General Motors, defeated President Trump’s preferred candidate, Amir Hassan, 50% to 30% in Michigan’s 8th Congressional District.
The upset could complicate Republicans’ plans to make inroads in the Flint area, a historic Democratic stronghold that has shifted to the right in recent years.
“I fell short last night,” Mr. Hassan said in a video statement. “I make no excuse. It was a tough race.”
The victorious Mr. Smith had already stopped campaigning in July and endorsed another Republican candidate, Al Lemmo, who ultimately placed third in the primary. But Mr. Smith was still on the ballot on Tuesday.
“I am humbled and honored that Republicans have chosen me to take the fight to [Rep.] Kristen McDonald Rivet,” Mr. Smith said in a statement, adding he looked forward to working with House Speaker Mike Johnson, Louisiana Republican, and Mr. Trump.
He told The Washington Times he will seek to tie Ms. McDonald Rivet to Abdul El-Sayed, a candidate who narrowly won the Democratic nomination for Senate in Michigan on a hard-left platform of providing universal healthcare, abolishing ICE and cutting aid to Israel.
“Abdul El-Sayed leads the most extreme Democratic ticket Michigan has ever seen,” said Mr. Smith in a statement. “Kristen McDonald Rivet must answer whether she stands with El-Sayed and his extreme agenda. I am ready to hold her accountable and defeat her in November.”
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Mr. Hassan had campaigned alongside Mr. Trump and was endorsed by multiple sitting Republican congressional lawmakers.
As of mid-July, Mr. Hassan had almost $730,000 in recorded receipts for his campaign, with Mr. Lemmo recording $220,000 and Mr. Smith recording zero dollars.
Mr. Smith told the Federal Election Commission less than a month ago in a handwritten note that he had raised only $1,850 through the end of June. Mr. Smith explained in the note that he did not file the information electronically “because I have had no success logging in” to the FEC website.
Jason Roe, a Republican consultant in Michigan, says he thinks Mr. Hassan’s loss came down to a lack of resources and a name which was off-putting to some primary voters.
“I think you had a dude with a Muslim name running in a Republican primary who was underfunded, and even though he had the endorsement, didn’t really have the funds to tell any kind of story,” said Mr. Roe.
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“Quite frankly, I think a lot of people conflated Abdul El-Sayed with Amir Hassan,” said Mr. Roe.
“When you vote in Michigan, you either vote on the Republican ballot or on the Democratic ballot. And so it wouldn’t surprise me at all that Republican voters, hearing about Abdul El-Sayed … see ’Amir Hassan’ and think it’s the same thing,” said Mr. Roe.
Mr. Hassan, who is Black and was born and raised in Flint, is Christian.
“Dude should have changed his name. If my name was Amir Hassan and I wasn’t a Muslim, I’d be changing my name as soon as I turned 18,” reacted Laura Loomer, a prominent pro-Trump influencer on social media. “I will never vote for anyone with an Islamic name. Neither will most of President Trump’s voters.”
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Michigan’s 8th Congressional District is rated “lean Democratic” by The Cook Political Report. Mr. Trump won the district by two percentage points in 2024.
Although Democrats have dominated the Flint area for decades, there are signs the community is growing more Republican.
Ms. McDonald Rivet, the district’s incumbent, won it by just over 6.5% in 2024 — a much narrower win than the almost 11-point margin that her Democratic predecessor, Rep. Dan Kildee, won in 2022.
But Mr. Roe thinks the Republican primary result all but ends the race.
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“We’re not competitive there. Thing’s over,” he said. “McDonald Rivet just won her reelection.”
Zach Bannon, a spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee, told The Times in a statement that Democrats will lose seats such as the 8th Congressional District in Michigan, where Republicans are seeking “to not just retain but expand our House majority.”
The NRCC had added Mr. Hassan to its “MAGA Majority Program,” a list of Republicans the group supports to pick up seats in battleground districts.
Mr. Smith made a brief appearance at a Michigan Republican luncheon, where he said, “I’m running to unseat communist comrade Rivet, and I’ll need your help to do it.”
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George Caldwell
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