GOP voters select candidate in 8th Congressional District who suspended his campaign last month

Republican voters in Michigan’s 8th Congressional District rejected Amir Hassan, the candidate endorsed by President Donald Trump, for the GOP nomination, choosing instead Thomas Smith, even though Smith suspended his campaign on July 16.

The district includes the tri-cities of Saginaw, Midland and Bay City, as well as the Flint area.

The primary, which has yet to be officially called by the Associated Press as of 9 a.m. Wednesday, was a three-way race between Hassan, a U.S. Navy veteran and former federal law enforcement officer, Smith, a retired General Motors engineer and small business owner, and Al Lemmo, an anti-abortion activist and retired mechanical engineer. When Smith suspended his campaign, he endorsed Lemmo, who has suggested that Hassan is a “trojan horse” candidate and a “lifelong Democrat.”

However, with 99% of the votes counted, Smith was polling 50.4% of the vote, while Hassan had 33.2%, and Lemmo with 16.4%. Despite his decision to suspend his campaign, Smith’s name remained on the ballot because he dropped out of the race well after the deadline to formally withdraw from the primary. 

Smith did not respond to messages asking how he intends to handle the results of the primary election.

The 8th District is considered by Republicans as a pickup opportunity in Michigan — it is currently represented by U.S. Rep. Kristen McDonald Rivet (D-Bay City), who was first elected in 2024 and is seeking re-election. The district was one of 13 congressional districts nationwide that voted for Trump in 2024 while simultaneously electing a Democrat to the House of Representatives. The 2026 election is considered a “lean Democrat” by the Cook Political Report. 

Trump endorsed Hassan late in the race, and he was one of the candidates that Trump spotlighted at a rally the week prior to the primary election. The rebuke of the candidate chosen by the president goes against the tides in the Republican gubernatorial primary, in which the Trump-backed candidate, U.S. Rep. John James (D-Shelby Township), defeated businessman Perry Johnson by a sizable margin. While Trump’s endorsement netted James the win, it did not do the same for Hassan.