Freshman Republican Congressman Peter Meijer from western Michigan tells Sirius XM radio that he has "not one" regret voting to impeach ex-President Trump last year, even if it likely cost him re-election on Tuesday.
“I would rather lose office with my character intact than stay reelected having made sacrifices of the soul," he told the subscription radio station, according to a report in Politico.
Meijer, 34, lost to ultra-conservtive candidate John Gibbs, who had the backing of Trump. Gibbs worked for the Department of Housing and Urban Development under Trump.
Gibbs also had the backing of the Democatic party, which spent nearly $500,000 to help get him elected, with the hope that he'll be easier to defeat than Meijer in the November election.
Meijer, the grandson of the founder of the Meijer chain, was one of 10 Republican Congress members to vote to impeach Trump last year. He becomes the second person of that group to lose in the primary. Several like Michigan's Fred Upton opted not to run for re-election.
On Wednesday night, at a Republican unity gathering in Grand Rapids, Meijer congratualted Gibbs.
“This was a hard-fought race decided by less than 4,000 votes out of over 100,000 cast,” Meijer said, according to Politico. “It was a long race, but a race that John ran very well.”