One of 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach President Donald Trump, Rep. Peter Meijer is fighting to remain in Congress beyond his freshman term.
Meijer, whose surname is familiar because of his family’s national supercenter chain that is based in Michigan, will face John Gibbs in the state’s 3rd Congressional District primary on August 2.
Endorsed by Trump, Gibbs was a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) official during the Trump administration. He was appointed by Trump to lead the Office of Personnel Management but was not confirmed by the U.S. Senate.
That alone would make it a compelling race. The added element of redistricting elevates this to one of the most closely watched elections nationwide as Republicans strive to regain control of the U.S. House and Democrats try to flip the seat.
Meijer or Gibbs will meet Democrat Hillary Scholten in November’s general election in a newly drawn 3rd District that once favored Republicans but is now friendlier to Democrats.
Michigan’s political districts saw little change for several decades when they were handled by state legislators.
In 2018, a constitutional amendment transferred authority to the Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission, which includes four Republicans, four Democrats, and five individuals not affiliated with a major party.
The district has not seen a Democratic congressional member since 1993, but with the new map, organizations like the Cook Political Report, Inside Elections, and Sabato’s Crystal Ball rate the general election as a toss-up.
Meijer defeated Scholten by six percentage points in 2020.
Gibbs grew up in the Lansing area, but he did not live in west Michigan until last year.
He earned a bachelor’s degree in computer science from Stanford University and a master’s degree in public administration from Harvard University, served as a missionary in Japan, and worked in Silicon Valley as a software engineer before his role with the housing department.
By Jeff Louderback
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