The Republicans Dan Newhouse and David Valadao prevailed. But Elaine Luria, a Democrat and Jan. 6 committee member, lost.
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Representative Dan Newhouse, a moderate Republican from Washington State, during a news conference in June.
WASHINGTON — A closely watched subplot in the midterm election involved the fates of Republicans who backed the impeachment and investigation of former President Donald J. Trump after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Tuesday yielded a split decision that seemed to sum up the mixed impact of bucking a former president who demands loyalty and relishes revenge.
Dan Newhouse, a moderate Republican who represents central Washington State, prevailed easily over a Democratic opponent after fending off an earlier challenge from a retired police chief running on a pro-Trump platform. Mr. Newhouse was one of 10 Republicans to vote for Mr. Trump’s second impeachment.
Only one other survived: David Valadao, a California Republican representing a district in the San Joaquin Valley, won re-election easily.
Eight of the 10 Republicans who openly defied Mr. Trump by voting for his impeachment were not even around to compete on Election Day.
Representative Liz Cheney of Wyoming sacrificed a safe seat to aggressively hold Mr. Trump to account, playing a critical role on the congressional committee investigating the attack on the Capitol. Ms. Cheney was trounced in the Republican primary in August, losing by 30 percentage points to a Trump-endorsed opponent.
Representatives Jaime Herrera Beutler of Washington, Tom Rice of South Carolina, and Peter Meijer of Michigan were also ousted by pro-Trump candidates in primaries earlier this year.
Mr. Meijer’s seat in Grand Rapids flipped to Hillary Scholten, a Democrat who easily defeated John Gibbs, a former Trump administration official.
The remaining four — Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, Anthony Gonzalez of Ohio, John Katko of New York and Fred Upton of Michigan — all retired rather than face intraparty challenges.
On the other side of the aisle, some Democratic incumbents in competitive districts who took a strong stand against Mr. Trump also lost. One of the most outspoken members of the House committee investigating the Capitol attack — Representative Elaine Luria, Democrat of Virginia — lost a tight race to Jen A. Kiggans, a Republican state senator.
It is not clear how large a role Ms. Luria’s opposition to Mr. Trump played in her defeat. The district, on the Virginia shore, has always been a battleground and it had recently been redrawn in a way that favored conservatives. Moreover, the economy, rather than the former president, dominated a campaign that pitted two Navy veterans against each other.
Their battle ended on a civil note. Ms. Kiggans praised Ms. Luria for her love of the Navy and country, and thanked her “for all of her years in public service.”
Source: nytimes.com
