Of the ten House Republicans who voted to impeach former President Donald Trump, only two have survived their primaries to make it to the general election in November, each of them in states that use a top-two primary system.
Reps. David Valadao of California and Dan Newhouse of Washington advanced to the general election.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, who voted to convict Trump in his second impeachment trial, advanced alongside Republican challenger Kelly Tshibaka, who campaigned with Trump, in a top-four ranked-choice primary.
Reps. Fred Upton of Michigan, Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, John Katko of New York and Anthony Gonzalez of Ohio all opted not to run at all this year. Peter Meijer of Michigan, Jaime Herrera Beutler of Washington, Tom Rice of South Carolina and Liz Cheney of Wyoming all lost their primaries to a Trump-endorsed opponent.
Valadao likely benefited from being the only impeachment supporter not facing a Trump-backed challenger, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. The primary contained two Trump supporters, so voters who support the former president were split between the candidates. Valadao eked out a win by just 1,310 votes, the Chronicle reported.
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Newhouse also faced off against a pair of high-profile Trump supporters: Trump-endorsed Loren Culp and Navy veteran and retired NASCAR driver Jerrod Sessler, The New York Times. Newhouse, who narrowly came out on top of the crowded field, raised $1.6 million, while Sessler raised $508,900 and Culp just $310,700, the Times reported.
Only three states — California, Nebraska and Washington — use top-two primaries for congressional and state-level elections, according to Ballotpedia. In a top-two primary format, all candidates are put on the ballot regardless of political affiliation, with the two candidates who acquire the most votes advancing to the general election.
Alaska uses the same system but with the top four candidates advancing. It also uses a ranked-choice format that allows voters to rank each candidate by preference, with the candidate with the least support being eliminated and their supporters’ second-choice votes added to the remaining candidates until a winner emerges.
Spokespeople for Murkowski, Newhouse and Valadao did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.
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