US Rep. Tom Rice of South Carolina has been ousted from Congress in his Republican primary after voting to impeach Donald Trump over the Jan. 6 insurrection. He is the first of the 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump to lose a reelection bid, the AP reports. Rice, a five-term congressman, was defeated Tuesday by state Rep. Russell Fry, who was endorsed by Trump. Rice was a strong supporter of Trump's policies in Washington but said he was left no choice but to impeach Trump over his failure to calm the mob that violently sought to stop the certification of Joe Biden's victory. US Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina also angered Trump, but she sought to make amends and won her GOP primary over her own Trump-backed challenger.
Trump had vowed revenge against the 10 House Republicans who crossed party lines to impeach him. Four of the 10 decided against seeking reelection. A fifth, Rep. David Valadao of California, is still waiting to hear the results of his primary election from last week; he is fighting for the second spot in a race where the top two finishers advance to the general election in November. In other races Tuesday:
- Republicans have gained an additional House seat for the rest of the year in a special election victory that they see as a sign of things to come along Texas’ heavily Hispanic southern border. Republican Mayra Flores narrowed Nancy Pelosi's Democratic majority in the House by winning a special primary election to serve the remaining months of former Democratic Rep. Filemon Vela's term.
- A former congressman who is bidding to return to his old seat in Maine held off a challenge from a fellow Republican. Bruce Poliquin represented Maine’s 2nd Congressional District from 2015 to 2019 until losing to the current seat holder, Democratic Rep. Jared Golden. Golden’s victory over Poliquin was the first congressional election decided by ranked-choice voting in US history. This year, Poliquin is hoping to win a rematch over Golden in one of the most closely watched races of the 2022 midterm elections. He staved off a challenge from Liz Caruso, the first selectwoman of the tiny town of Caratunk, in Tuesday’s primary.
CNN is following the primaries
here. (More
Election 2022 stories.)
,
uBlock 
,
and
Ghostery 
)
