Republican rep who voted to impeach Trump running for reelection

Rep. David Valadao (R-Calif.), one of the 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach former President Trump last year, announced on Wednesday that he would be running in California’s newly drawn 22nd Congressional District. 

“I’ll continue to be an independent member of Congress who will stand up to the divisive partisanship in Washington D.C., get things done to grow our local economy, and deliver more water for our farmers and communities,” Valadao said in a statement. “I’m excited to earn the vote of old friends as well as new voters across Kern, Kings, and Tulare Counties.”

Valadao currently represents the 21st Congressional District in California, which includes Kings County in addition to parts of Kern, Fresno and Tulare counties. 

The former president was impeached in the House last year for his role in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. Trump was eventually acquitted in the Senate. 

Several House Republicans, including Reps. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) and Anthony Gonzalez (R-Ohio), who voted to impeach Trump announced last year that they would not be seeking reelection, indicating there is less room within the Republican Party for those who spoke out against the former president to continue their political careers. 

However, the situation is different in the Senate. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) — one of seven senators to vote to impeach Trump — announced she would be running for reelection last November. 

Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), the chairman of the Senate GOP campaign arm, said in November he would help her reelection efforts despite the fact that Trump already endorsed her GOP primary challenger.

“You had said you’re going to support all incumbents. And I’m just curious, does that include Lisa Murkowski, where the former president has endorsed a primary challenger? And when you say you support, does that mean you will financially support Lisa Murkowski and actually help run a campaign against a primary opponent?” “Meet the Press” host Chuck Todd asked Scott last November.

“Absolutely. … We support all of our incumbents,” Scott answered. “And fortunately for us, we’ve got great candidates running in our primaries. And fortunately for us, we’ve got Bernie Sanders candidates on the other side in many primaries, and so we’re going to be in a great position in ‘22.”