Republican primary candidate suspended campaign weeks ago — and then defeated Trump-backed candidate
Amir Hassan posted a gracious video on Wednesday accepting defeat in the Republican primary for Michigan's 8th Congressional District.
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The candidate got an enthusiastic endorsement from President Donald Trump but lost to fellow Republican Tom Smith, who had dropped out of the race and backed a third candidate.
Hassan is the first congressional candidate with a Trump endorsement to lose in this cycle.
Smith, a retired engineer, told Politico he will return to the campaign and work to defeat first-term incumbent Democrat Rep. Kristen McDonald Rivet.
"I look forward to working with Speaker [Mike] Johnson and the entire Republican team to expand our House majority and advance President Trump's America First agenda to lower costs for working families and make America affordable again," Smith said in a statement.
The political unknown raised very little money for the campaign, and in July he was forced to report his meager $1,850 donations in a handwritten note to the Federal Election Commission, claiming to have had issues signing into the online portal.
A Republican strategist who commented anonymously to Politico said that Trump's pick had "clear flaws as a candidate" and opined that the GOP base rejected him because they were "reluctant to support a dude named Amir Hassan."
Hassan is a Navy veteran and former law enforcement officer from Flint.
Rivet was mocked last year by the National Republican Congressional Committee when she sauntered into oncoming traffic in order to escape a tough question.
"I fell short last night. I make no excuse. It was a tough race," Hassan said in his video. "I always think of conservative values, and the biggest conservative value is we don't make excuses."
He went on to endorse the winner and called on the voters to flip the 8th District.
Politico reported that Hassan is the first congressional candidate with a Trump endorsement to lose in this cycle.
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I am just an average American. My teen years were in the late 70s and I participated in all that that decade offered. Started working young, too young. Then I joined the Army before I graduated High School. I spent 25 years in, mostly in Infantry units. Since then I've worked in information technology positions all at small family owned companies. At this rate I'll never be a tech millionaire. When I was young I rode horses as much as I could. I do believe I should have been a cowboy. I'm getting in the saddle again by taking riding lessons and see where it goes.
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