Amash indicates that it will not seek reelection to Congress


A Grand Rapids native representing Michigan’s third congressional district, Amash rose to national fame in May 2019, when he became the first Republican member of Congress to declare that Trump had committed impeccable crimes.

Two months later, he revealed that he was leaving the Republican Party to become independent. While Amash was a founding member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, he became a vocal critic of the President.

In April 2020, Amash said he was forming an exploratory committee for president as a candidate for the Libertarian Party. The announcement was met with bipartisan mockery, but encouraged by Trump, who tweeted that Amash “would be a wonderful candidate.”

Many Democrats feared that Amash’s career in the White House could divert votes from his party’s alleged nominee, former Vice President Joe Biden. But Amash sank his possible offer in May after concluding that “circumstances do not lend themselves to my success as a presidential candidate this year.”

Amash’s apparent acknowledgment that he will not seek re-election in November opens up a Republican-leaning district that both parties were willing to contest, though Democrats would have had a better chance with Amash in the race.

Amash’s home state of Michigan was one of the key battlegrounds Trump launched in 2016 to capture the charge. However, recent polls show Biden leading Trump in those changing midwestern states, including Michigan, as well as among voters across the country.