The only independent in the House, Rep. Justin Amash, I-Mich., is going to face his own resistance in his 2020 re-election campaign, one coming from both sides after he left the Republican Party in pursuit of impeachment.
"Obstinance is what it comes down to," Republican candidate Peter Meijer, an Iraq War veteran, told Yahoo News. "Before Rep. Amash was feuding with the president, he was feuding with [former House Speaker] Paul Ryan. And before that he was feuding with [Ryan's predecessor] John Boehner.
"Do we want somebody who is ready to actually introduce legislation and get it passed by working with other members? Do we want a representative? Or do we want a constitutional theorist? We're not a district that gravitates towards attention seekers."
Grand Rapids, Michigan's 3rd Congressional District, is one of only about two dozen districts in the nation to vote for both Barack Obama and Donald Trump, and its incumbent representative is a co-founder for the conservative House Freedom Caucus but now an independent after believing the findings of the Mueller Report constitute a presidential impeachment.
"It's unprecedented," Meijer told Yahoo News. "You've got an Independent incumbent who is conservative in a lot of ways but holds very divergent positions from many Republicans today. Then you'll have Republican and Democratic nominees who agree that the incumbent needs to go — and vehemently disagree about pretty much everything else. It's going to be interesting."
While Amash, a Palestinian-American, rejects both parties, Democratic candidate Nick Colvin is campaigning in agreement with Meijer: Amash is opposing everyone and not working with anyone.
"I grew frustrated long ago with Justin Amash," Colvin told Yahoo News. "As opposed to coming to Washington and finding ways to work together and find solutions and bring resources back here that people need, he's just been a constant thorn in everyone's side."
Even Colvin can agree impeachment is not a winner for Amash in this district.
"The average voter in this district is not paying attention to the above-the-fold controversies of the day with respect to impeachment," Colvin told Yahoo News. "They're focused on the rising cost of copays and whether they will have a job tomorrow. It would be a mistake to be singularly focused on impeachment when people in the Third have so many other things on their mind."
Still, Amash is sticking to his Never Trump stance, willing to face challenges from both parties next year.
"I want to show people back in Washington that this can be done," Amash recently told Rolling Stone. "I think my colleagues expect that if you leave your party, you're in big trouble."
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