Former President Donald Trump can claim another success in his campaign to punish Republicans who voted for his impeachment.
Rep. Tom Rice (R-S.C.) was one of 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach the former president after the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.
As a result of his vote, the Congressman found himself very much not on Trump’s good side and earned a primary challenger.
And on Tuesday, voters in South Carolina’s 7th Congressional district overwhelmingly voted in favor of state Rep. Russell Fry instead of Rice.
Fry received 51.1% of the vote, while Rice garnered just 24.5%.
I've seen enough: pro-impeachment Rep. Tom Rice (R) has lost the #SC07 GOP primary to Trump-endorsed Russell Fry (R).
— Dave Wasserman (@Redistrict) June 15, 2022
Trump celebrated Rice’s loss in a post on Truth Social, writing, “The biggest News of the evening so far is that Russell Fry beat Impeach Master Tom Rice with a Vote of more than 51%, therefore WINNING OUTRIGHT with no need for a run-off. Rice only got 24%. Congratulations to Russell on running a great campaign!”
Interestingly, Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) survived her primary challenge from Katie Arrington, a former state lawmaker, and former Pentagon official, on Tuesday.
She also faced a Trump-backed challenger after she voted to certify President Joe Biden’s victory and voted in favor of holding Steve Bannon in contempt of Congress.
While Rice called his impeachment decision a “conservative” vote and said he would “do it again tomorrow,” Mace tried to walk a finer line and not alienate Trump’s base.
A day after Trump endorsed Arrington, Mace posted a video of herself outside Trump Tower in New York City voicing support for his policies.
I’m standing in front of Trump Tower with a message this morning…#SC01 #LowcountryFirst pic.twitter.com/CpmMYA63qt
— Nancy Mace (@NancyMace) February 10, 2022
If there is any trend that can be gleaned from the results of the primaries so far, it seems that Republican voters are willing to “forgive” or accept candidates who criticized Trump, or even in the case of Georgia, stood up to his claims about the election.
But voting to impeach a president with just one week left in his term, which could have potentially led to Trump being barred from running for office again, appears to be a step too far for Republican voters.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) both easily won their primaries last month despite drawing the former president’s fury for not overturning the results of the 2020 election in the state.
And in Ohio, J.D. Vance won the party’s nomination for the Senate despite his past as a vocal Trump critic.
Meanwhile, a recent poll conducted by Fabrizio, Lee & Associates found that Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) — another lawmaker who voted for impeachment — is trailing her primary challenger by double digits.