Trump-Backed Candidate Loses Primary To Guy Who Quit The Race A Month Ago

The Republican primary in Michigan’s 8th Congressional District went a little bit sideways when President Donald Trump’s chosen candidate lost — to a candidate who’d suspended his campaign a month earlier.

Trump endorsed U.S. Navy veteran and former federal law enforcement officer Amir Hassan, but after votes were tallied, Decision Desk called the race for retired General Motors engineer and small business owner Thomas Smith — who had stopped campaigning mid-July.

Smith won with 50% of the vote, and Hassan walked away with 33%. Al Lemmo, to whom Smith gave his endorsement when he suspended his campaign, commanded 16% of the vote. Lemmo is a pro-life activist and retired mechanical engineer with the U.S. Army’s Tank‑Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center (TARDEC). He attacked Hassan during the campaign by claiming that he was a “Trojan horse” candidate and was previously a Democrat.

On July 18, Smith posted a video declaring that he was putting his full support behind Lemmo. At the same time, he notified the Federal Election Commission — in a handwritten note, explaining he’d had difficulties logging into the system — that he planned to file his next report by the deadline he’d received in an email.

Tom Smith, the candidate who dropped out of the #MI08 Republican primary but is still poised to defeat Trump-endorsed Amir Hassan, sent this handwritten note to the FEC less than a month ago: pic.twitter.com/xllPk5ZwTH

— Patrick Svitek (@PatrickSvitek) August 5, 2026

But because Smith withdrew from the race after the deadline, his name was not scrubbed from the ballot — and the rest is history.

In a statement issued Wednesday morning, a surprised Smith told supporters that he was “humbled and honored that Republicans have chosen me to take the fight to Kristen McDonald Rivet.”

“I look forward to working with Speaker 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,” he added.

Michigan’s 8th Congressional District is just one of a number of seats Republicans are hoping to flip in their efforts to retain control of the U.S. House. McDonald Rivet, a first-term congresswoman, won the open seat in 2024 when she defeated Republican Paul Junge by over six points — but Trump also won that district the same year.