Peter Meijer leaves GOP race for US Senate

Former U.S. Rep. Peter Meijer, R-Grand Rapids Township, on Friday abandoned his race for the Republican nomination to Michigan's open U.S. Senate seat this year.

Meijer — a member of the family that founded and owns the eponymous grocery store chain who announced he was running last November — put out a statement Friday afternoon saying he was leaving the race to save the Republican Party a fractious primary in August.

"The hard reality is the fundamentals of the race have changed significantly since we launched this campaign," he said. "After prayerful consideration, today I withdrew my name from the primary ballot. Without a strong pathway to victory, continuing this campaign only increases the likelihood of a divisive primary that would distract from the essential goal — conservative victories in November."

His decision to withdraw further clarifies a Senate race that has become much more focused: The remaining Republicans include former U.S. Reps. Mike Rogers, of Brighton, and Justin Amash, of Cascade Charter Township, Grosse Pointe businessman Sandy Pensler and west Michigan physician Sherry O'Donnell.

Among the Republicans remaining, Rogers, a former House Intelligence Committee chairman, is considered the presumptive front-runner, not least because he has secured the endorsement of former President Donald Trump, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee. Rogers has also nailed down much of the Republican mainstream support in the state and picked up the endorsement of another GOP candidate who left the race, former Detroit Police Chief James Craig.

Rogers, on social media, thanked Meijer, a veteran, "for his service to our country & for bringing light to some of the biggest issues facing America and Michigan families, like the border, inflation, & caring for our veterans."Rogers also said he hoped Meijer "continues to be a valuable part of the GOP."

Meijer ran for and lost his reelection bid to the U.S. House in 2022 after being beaten in the Republican primary by John Gibbs. Most consider that defeat a consequence of Meijer's decision, after winning election in 2020, to vote to impeach Trump for his role in instigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol by his supporters as Congress met to certify the election of President Joe Biden.

As such, Trump targeted Meijer, who was unlikely to work his way into the former president's good graces — though Meijer did say last year he considered some of Trump's policies good ones and that he would support Trump if he became the GOP nominee. Gibbs ultimately was defeated in the 2022 election by current U.S. Rep. Hillary Scholten, D-Grand Rapids.

By departing the race and citing the need for conservative unity, Meijer, who has enormous personal wealth and widespread name recognition, could be positioning himself for future forays in politics as well.

Meijer's withdrawal from the Senate race on Friday came just ahead of a deadline to do so, three days after party candidates were required to file between 15,000 and 30,000 signatures on nominating petitions for the Aug. 6 primary.

Michigan has an open seat because of a decision by U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., to forego running for a fifth six-year term this year. In the race for the Democratic nomination, U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Holly, is widely considered the likely front-runner, facing Detroit actor Hill Harper and Dearborn businessman Nasser Beydoun.

Contact Todd Spangler: tspangler@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter@tsspangler

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Peter Meijer leaves GOP race for US Senate