Thomas Smith, a retired engineer from General Motors, won the Republican primary for Michigan’s 8th Congressional District with just over 50% of the votes. The win comes after Smith suspended his campaign in mid-July and even endorsed another candidate, Al Lemmo.
Smith beat both Lemmo, who finished third in the race, and President Donald Trump-backed candidate Amir Hassan. Trump had previously endorsed Hassan on Truth Social in late June and invited Hassan on stage during his July 27 rally at GM.
Hassan, a Navy veteran, took second place with around 33% of the vote.
Smith had appeared in a video on Facebook endorsing Lemmo and announcing his campaign suspension. Smith had only raised $1,850 by June 30 for his campaign, while Hassan had raised just over $700,000, according to reports filed by the candidates with the Federal Election Commission. Smith filed his by hand after having “no success” logging into the online FEC portal.
After he suspended his campaign, Smith was still listed as an official candidate and his name was not removed from the ballot, because ballots had already been printed. The district includes Flint, Bay City, Saginaw, and Midland.
Smith said he was “humbled and honored that Republicans have chosen me to take the fight to Kristen McDonald Rivet,” in a statement.
Smith is a small business owner of a salsa company. He will now face Democratic U.S. Representative Kristen McDonald Rivet in November. Rivet has raised more than $5 million.
