A U.S. House candidate endorsed by President Donald Trump likely lost a Tuesday congressional primary to someone who wasn’t campaigning because of his Arabic name, multiple Republicans said, after their party aggressively sought votes from Arab Americans in Michigan in the 2024 election.
In July, the National Republican Congressional Committee chose Amir Hassan, a U.S. Navy veteran from Flint, for a program meant to elevate candidates who could help expand the GOP majority in the U.S. House, where Republicans are clinging to a narrow majority. However, Hassan lost his bid to be the Republican nominee in Michigan’s 8th District to Thomas Smith, who had ended his own campaign and endorsed a different candidate.
Smith will take on U.S. Rep. Kristen McDonald Rivet, D-Bay City, in November.
Smith got about 31,000 votes or 50% of the GOP primary ballots cast in the district that includes Bay and Saginaw counties and much of Genesee County. Hassan received 33%, while Al Lemmo, whom Smith endorsed on July 16, got 16%.
State Rep. Tim Kelly, R-Saginaw, said he could only speculate why Hassan lost but added that voters were shying away from what he described as Arabic-sounding names. Other Republicans echoed Kelly’s analysis, saying the outcome was sad. Kelly tied Hassan to Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed of Ann Arbor, who narrowly won a high-profile, nationally watched primary over U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens of Birmingham.
“We had an El-Sayed in our midst,” Kelly said, referring to Hassan.
While El-Sayed is a progressive Democrat, Hassan had been endorsed by Trump and appeared on stage with him on July 27.
“From bravely fighting for our incredible U.S. Navy, to protecting his community as a federal law enforcement officer, Amir has served our Nation with distinction and will bring that same fighting spirit to the U.S. Congress,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on July 28.
But at an event in Las Vegas Wednesday — a day after the primary — Trump noted Hassan, whom he didn’t mention by name, was the only loss by a candidate he endorsed in Tuesday’s election.
The Republican president said Hassan is a good person, but “nobody knew who the person was.”
“A person that I thought was a good person didn’t have much of a chance, but I said I don’t care, I’m doing it anyway,” Trump said.
Smith labeled Hassan a ‘Trojan horse’
Hassan declined to give The Detroit News an interview Thursday. In a video posted on social media, Hassan said he would make no excuses for his loss.
“I know what God has in store for me is something greater, even if I can’t see it right now and I don’t understand,” Hassan added.
Hassan’s campaign had spent $622,841, according to federal disclosures. As for Smith, he submitted a handwritten note to the Federal Election Commission on July 12, saying he had raised only $1,850.
“I ask every one of my supporters to join me in uniting behind Lemmo for Congress to ensure we defeat possible Trojan Horse candidate and lifelong Democrat Amir Haneef Hassan and nominate a strong conservative voice to faceMcDonald Rivet in November,” Smith said in a statement on July 16.
On the campaign trail, Hassan had been asked, in one interview, about making a transformation from Islam to Christianity and said his faith journey had led him “back to Christ.”
Asked about Amir Hassan’s loss, Hassan Nehme, a Republican state House candidate from Dearborn Heights who is Muslim, said some people within the GOP believe if Muslims are elected, they will try to force their faith on everyone else.
“They’re scared of the Arab Americans taking over in the area,” Nehme said of the 8th District.
Nehme said the Christian nationalist movement is particularly strong in the 8th District.
Jimmy Greene, a prominent political figure in the 8th District and a former Republican who’s now an independent, said it was clear why Hassan lost on Tuesday.
“They saw this Black guy with that name, and there’s just no way,” Greene said.
Greene said he advised Hassan before the primary election that his name would be an obstacle. After the result on Tuesday, Greene said he received a text message from Hassan in which the candidate appeared to acknowledge that people didn’t vote for him because of his name.
“This is the most absurd thing ever,” Greene said of the situation in the 8th.
Saginaw GOP chief calls it ‘the weirdest race ever’
Over the weekend, when Republican candidate for governor John James was campaigning in Muskegon, which is on the west side of Michigan, an attendee of his event asked him specifically for his thoughts about “the Islamic ideology that’s infiltrating our state and the nation.”
Saeed Khan, director of the Center for the Study of Citizenship at Wayne State University, said given the current political climate, it’s possible Hassan lost on Tuesday because of his name.
“Here, you have a guy who was going all in on Trump,” Khan said. “You’ve got to wonder if the name made a difference.”
The idea of a name hurting a candidate isn’t new, Khan said. In the 1960s, names that voters viewed as Catholic-sounding were seen as problematic, he said.
Yet, Amy Carl, chairwoman of the Saginaw County Republican Party, said Hassan’s name didn’t seem to affect his performance in her county.
“I think he was not a grassroots candidate,” Carl said.
Smith had more of a connection with voters and had been running harder before ending his campaign, she said.
Carl described Smith as a Christian conservative. He had received polling that indicated he wasn’t going to win and ultimately endorsed Lemmo, Carl said. Smith went on to win the primary.
“This is the weirdest race ever,” Carl said.
Shannon Elenbaas, chairwoman of the Genesee County Republican Party, said she was shocked Smith won the primary.
“Republican voters had a choice, and they made that choice on Tuesday,” Elenbaas said in response to a question about why she thought Hassan lost.
Kelly, the Saginaw lawmaker, criticized the National Republican Congressional Committee by saying the group has no idea what was happening in the 8th District.
The committee, Kelly said, “really has their head up their ass about the 8th.”
cmauger@detroitnews.com
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Trump-backed hopeful’s name cost him Michigan primary, some Republicans say
Reporting by Craig Mauger, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
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By Craig Mauger, The Detroit News | USA TODAY Network
