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Tag: Justin Amash

  • Michigan will choose between Democrat Elissa Slotkin and Republican Mike Rogers for US Senate

    Michigan will choose between Democrat Elissa Slotkin and Republican Mike Rogers for US Senate

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    LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers has secured the Republican nomination for a U.S. Senate seat in Michigan and will face Democratic Rep. Elissa Slotkin in the November election.

    Slotkin and Rogers, long considered the front-runners for their respective party nominations, will now shift focus to the general election. Slotkin enters with a massive fundraising advantage and emerges nearly unscathed from a sparse primary, while Rogers has the backing of national Republican groups and former President Donald Trump.

    Former U.S. Rep. and Republican candidate for Michigan Senate Mike Rogers talks to supporters at a post election gathering, Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024, in Lake Orion, Mich. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

    Slotkin defeated actor Hill Harper in the Democratic primary, while Republicans chose Rogers over former U.S. Rep. Justin Amash and physician Sherry O’Donnell. Both candidates will now compete for a seat left open by longtime Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow’s retirement.

    The retiring incumbent joined Slotkin onstage at an event in Detroit shortly after the race was called to endorse her. Slotkin praised Stabenow for her years of service before delivering a speech positioning herself as the “normal” and “rational” candidate.

    North of Detroit, in Oakland County, Rogers thanked supporters at a watch party for “not giving up on politics.” Like Slotkin, Rogers represented a mid-Michigan swing district in Congress, and he similarly positioned himself as the common sense candidate in his speech. No Republican has won a U.S. Senate race in Michigan since 1994.

    With Democrats holding a razor-thin majority in the Senate and Republicans in the House, competitive races like those in Michigan have drawn lots of attention. The state’s status as a key presidential swing state raises the stakes for those seats even higher, with party control on the line from the top of the ballot all the way down to the state Legislature.

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    U.S. Senate candidate, Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., left, holds hands with Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., at a primary election night event in Detroit, Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

    Michigan’s open Senate seat is one of a handful of races nationwide that will determine control of the upper chamber in November. With a later congressional primary, Slotkin and Rogers will have a short period to transition from competing against their own party members to appealing to a broader base of voters for the Nov. 5 general election, which may explain why they have campaigned with their eyes on the general election.

    National groups on both sides have already reserved millions of dollars worth of advertisements after the primary. Both Slotkin and Rogers, viewed for months as the overwhelming favorites in their primaries, have skipped debates and refrained from holding large campaign events.

    Several U.S. House seats with primaries on Tuesday could influence the balance of power in the lower chamber, but there, too, the biggest battles will be fought in the fall campaign.

    Slotkin’s entry into the Senate race left her mid-Michigan 7th Congressional District seat open, historically one of the nation’s top battleground districts. Both party candidates ran unopposed in their primaries there, setting the table for a November matchup between Democrat Curtis Hertel Jr. and Republican Tom Barrett.

    Democratic U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee’s retirement will leave an open seat in the 8th Congressional District, which extends northward from the outskirts of Detroit and covers areas such as Flint, Saginaw and Midland. First-term state Sen. Kristen McDonald Rivet, who had been endorsed by Kildee, defeated state Board of Education President Pamela Pugh and Matt Collier, the former mayor of Flint, to secure the Democratic nomination.

    On the Republican side, former TV anchor Paul Junge defeated Mary Draves, a former chemical manufacturing executive at Dow Inc., and Anthony Hudson to win the GOP nomination. Junge lost to Kildee by over 10 percentage points in 2022.

    What to know about the 2024 Election

    Meanwhile, several incumbents in battleground districts now have their November matchups set following Tuesday’s primaries.

    U.S. Rep. Hillary Scholten, who in 2022 became the first Democrat to represent Grand Rapids in decades, will face Paul Hudson, an attorney who defeated Michael Markey Jr. in the western Michigan district’s GOP primary.

    A district just north of Detroit will see a rematch between freshman GOP Rep. John James and Carl Marlinga, a longtime Macomb County prosecutor who defeated three other Democrats in the primary. Marlinga lost to James by 1,600 votes, and national Democrats have made the seat a top target this cycle.

    In a heavily Democratic district encompassing downtown Detroit, U.S. Rep. Shri Thanedar defeated Detroit City Council member Mary Waters, who had been endorsed by Mayor Mike Duggan. Thanedar significantly outraised her, and his win likely leaves Detroit — a city that is nearly 80% Black — without Black representation in Congress for a second consecutive term.

    Down-ballot races held primaries across the state on Tuesday. Control of the state House of Representatives will be at stake in November, with all 110 seats up for election. Democrats took control of both chambers and the governor’s office for the first time in four decades in 2022 and will be trying to defend those majorities.

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    Associated Press writer Isabella Volmert in Lansing, Michigan, contributed to this report.

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  • Justin Amash returns to Republican Party to run for U.S. Senate seat

    Justin Amash returns to Republican Party to run for U.S. Senate seat

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    Former U.S. Rep. Justin Amash, the libertarian-leaning Republican who went independent and later joined the Libertarian Party and became a critic of Donald Trump, announced Thursday he’s running for an open U.S. Senate seat in Michigan.

    Amash is returning to the Republican Party to run in the GOP primary set for August.

    He joins an already crowded field of Republicans vying for a seat held by Democrat Debbie Stabenow, who is retiring.

    Other high-profile Republicans running for the seat are former U.S. Reps. Mike Rogers of Brighton, Peter Meijer of Grand Rapids Township, and businessman Sandy Pensler of Grosse Pointe Park.

    Retired Detroit Police Chief James Craig bailed out of the race after failing to raise enough money.

    “After thoroughly evaluating all aspects of a potential campaign, I’m convinced that no candidate would be better positioned to win both the Republican primary and the general election,” Amash said in a statement.

    Amash said Americans are growing disillusioned with politicians.

    “We live in the greatest country on earth, but the ideals that have made it great are increasingly taken for granted,” Amash said. “People often feel helpless and hopeless, unheard and ignored by Washington, and trapped between opposing forces who reject America’s principles or don’t understand them.”

    The son of a Palestinian refugee, Amash said hyper-partisanship is depriving Americans of fresh, independent ideas.

    “Regardless of who wins the White House and Congress, the United States will remain deeply polarized,” Amash said. “What we need is not a rubber stamp for either party, but an independent-minded senator prepared to challenge anyone and everyone on the people’s behalf — someone focused not on extending federal power so Republicans or Democrats in Washington can achieve their political ends, but on ensuring that Americans have the personal and economic freedom to pursue their own ends.”

    Amash gained national attention after he became the only congressional Republican to vote to impeach Trump in 2019. Republican leaders responded by pledging to unseat Amash in 2020, and Trump called him “a loser.” He then joined the Libertarian Party, and briefly explored running as the Libertarian Party candidate for president.

    Amash decided not to run for reelection.

    “This is the land of liberty, and it’s on us to defend it,” Amash concluded in his Senate announcement.

    Democrats scoffed at Amash’s entry into the race, saying he supported abortion bans and tax cuts for the ultra-rich and called for a repeal of the Affordable Care Act.

    “Michigan Republicans’ brutal infighting is getting nastier by the day,” Michigan Democratic Party Chair Lavora Barnes said in a statement. “Their caustic showdown will leave them with a badly damaged nominee who is out of touch with Michigan families. Amash has an extensive record of leaving Michiganders behind: supporting dangerous abortion bans, vowing to gut health care access, and backing the 2017 tax giveaway to the wealthy and large corporations.”

    Amash became the first Palestinian American to serve in Congress when he was first elected in 2011. In October, Amash said members of his family were killed by Israel’s bombing campaign in Gaza while they were sheltering inside a church.

    Now U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, also of Michigan, is the only Palestinian American in Congress.

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    Steve Neavling

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  • “It is Terrorism”: Pope Francis Denounces Killing of Two Christian Women in Gaza

    “It is Terrorism”: Pope Francis Denounces Killing of Two Christian Women in Gaza

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    In an address on his 87th birthday, Pope Francis denounced as “terrorism” the Israeli Defense Forces killing of two “unarmed civilians” who were sheltering in a Catholic church in Gaza.

    “I continue to receive very grave and painful news from Gaza,” Francis said. “Unarmed civilians are the objects of bombings and shootings. And this happened even inside the Holy Family parish complex, where there are no terrorists, but families, children, people who are sick or disabled, nuns.”

    A statement from the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, which oversees Catholic Churches across Cyprus, Jordan, Israel, Gaza, and the West Bank, reported Saturday that an IDF sniper “murdered two Christian women inside the Holy Family Parish in Gaza, where the majority of Christian families has taken refuge since the start of the war.”

    The Pope said the victims of the IDF attack were Nahida Khalil Anton and her daughter Samar Kamal Anton, who were killed while they were going to the bathroom.

    “Some are saying, ‘This is terrorism and war,’” the Pope said. “Yes, it is war. It is terrorism.”

    The Latin Patriarchate statement said the Israeli military gave no warning before the attack, and that the two “were shot in cold blood inside the premises of the Parish, where there are no belligerents.”

    Former Michigan Representative Justin Amash, who was the first Palestinian-American to serve in Congress and whose relatives were killed by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza in October, responded to the news in a social media post on X, formerly Twitter.

    “For Christians in Gaza—whose family members have been killed or maimed, whose homes and churches have been destroyed or badly damaged, and who suffer through sleepless nights of bombings—this Christmas will be one of great sadness and mourning,” Amash wrote. “Please pray for peace and reprieve from the IDF siege that is devastating this ancient community.”

    In his address, the Pope also noted that earlier Saturday, an IDF tank struck the Convent of the Sisters of Mother Theresa in Gaza. The statement from the Latin Patriarchate said the attack destroyed the generator and fuel resources for the building, which currently houses over 54 disabled people.

    The news comes just a day after IDF soldiers killed three hostages who were waving a white flag. The Israeli military has said the accidental killings violated its rules of engagement and is reviewing the actions of its soldiers.

    As of Thursday, the Gaza Health Ministry reported that 18,787 people—including 7,729 children and 5,153 women—had been killed by Israel in Gaza since October 7.

    “Let us pray for our brothers and sisters who are suffering from the war in Ukraine, in Palestine, in Israel, and in the other zones of conflict,” Francis said in his address. “May the drawing close of Christmas reinforce the commitment to open the paths to peace.”

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    Jack McCordick

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  • Ex-GOP congressman sounds alarm over “horrific” killing of Gaza civilians

    Ex-GOP congressman sounds alarm over “horrific” killing of Gaza civilians

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    Former GOP Representative Justin Amash of Michigan called the destruction of Gaza by Israeli forces “horrific” on Friday and sounded the alarm over the killing of civilians in the region.

    On October 7, Hamas led the deadliest Palestinian militant attack on Israel in history. Israel subsequently launched its heaviest-ever airstrikes on Gaza. According to Israeli officials, 1,400 people in Israel have been killed as of Saturday, the Associated Press reported, while over 7,700 Palestinians have died, according to officials from the health ministry in Gaza, according to the AP. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said his country is “at war” and has cut off supplies of food, fuel, electricity and medicine into Gaza.

    Amash, a Palestinian-American who left the Republican Party in his later years in office, took to X, formerly Twitter, to share the fear that his relatives in Gaza are experiencing amid Israel’s airstrikes.

    “The ongoing destruction of Gaza is horrific. Countless innocent civilians are being killed or severely injured,” the former congressman wrote. “My Orthodox Christian relatives have nothing to do with terrorism, but they haven’t been spared from death, pain, and grief.”

    Palestinians search the destroyed annex of the Greek Orthodox Saint Porphyrius Church damaged in a strike on Gaza City on October 20. Former GOP Representative Justin Amash of Michigan called the destruction of Gaza by Israeli forces “horrific” on Friday and sounded the alarm over the killing of civilians in the region.
    Dawood Nemer/AFP via Getty Images

    Amash also wrote that it has been difficult to communicate with his relatives.

    “When I spoke with a family member several days ago, I heard the blast of an airstrike near the church and the fear in his voice. He hadn’t slept in days. Young relatives woke up startled, terrified they might not survive,” he posted. “Now we can’t even communicate with any of them.”

    Israeli airstrikes on Friday knocked out internet and communications in Gaza. Israel’s continued bombardment on Saturday has disrupted ambulances and aid groups in the region, the AP reported.

    “Children make up about half the population of Gaza. Among those who are fortunate to survive Israel’s bombardment, many will forever be traumatized and resentful,” Amash wrote in his Friday X post. “This is not a viable path forward for Palestinians or Israelis who hope for a peaceful future.”

    Amash served Michigan’s 3rd Congressional District in the House of Representatives from 2011 to 2021. He was a part of the Republican Party until 2019 when he became an independent and joined the Libertarian Party the following year.

    Meanwhile, the former congressman has already lost family due to the Israel-Hamas war.

    He wrote on October 20 in a post on X that several of his relatives were killed when Gaza City’s Saint Porphyrius Orthodox Church, where his family were sheltering, was hit by an overnight airstrike. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) previously confirmed to Newsweek that it was responsible for damage to the church and added that it “can unequivocally state that the Church was not the target of the strike.”

    Amash shared a picture of two of his relatives, Viola and Yara, who he said were killed. “Give rest, O Lord, to their souls, and may their memories be eternal,” he wrote. “The Palestinian Christian community has endured so much. Our family is hurting badly. May God watch over all Christians in Gaza—and all Israelis and Palestinians who are suffering, whatever their religion or creed.”

    Newsweek reached out to Amash via email for comment.

    Amash was the first Palestinian-American to represent his state in Congress. A current Michigan representative who is the first Palestinian-American woman to serve in Congress, Rashida Tlaib, offered her condolences to Amash, commenting on his X post: “I am so sorry Justin.”

    Tlaib has been under scrutiny recently for criticizing Israel’s reaction to Hamas’ attack and President Joe Biden‘s support of Israel. The Democratic congresswoman has called for a de-escalation in Gaza and joined in a Jewish-led, pro-Palestinian protest that demanded lawmakers call for a ceasefire on October 18 at the Capitol’s Cannon House Office Building.

    GOP Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia introduced a resolution to the House floor on Thursday to censure Tlaib, which Representative Jared Moskowitz, a Florida Democrat who is Jewish, urged Congress to consider.

    The resolution states that Tlaib is being censured for “antisemitic activity, sympathizing with terrorist organizations, and leading an insurrection at the United States Capitol Complex.” Greene was referring to the October 18 protest that Tlaib took part in, which was not an insurrection. A Capitol police spokesperson previously told Newsweek that the event was “generally a peaceful demonstration.”

    Tlaib called Greene’s resolution “unhinged” and “deeply Islamophobic” in an X post on Thursday afternoon. Meanwhile, Representative Becca Balint, a freshman Vermont Democrat, pushed forward a resolution on Thursday to censure Greene who Balint says has “repeatedly fanned the flames of racism, antisemitism, LGBTQ hate speech, Islamophobia, anti-Asian hate, xenophobia, and other forms of hatred.”