A little-known salsa mogul bested President Donald Trump’s handpicked candidate in the GOP primary for Michigan‘s 8th Congressional District this week, despite having quit the race a month earlier.

Thomas Smith, a former engineer for General Motors, will face off against first-term Rep. Kristen McDonald Rivet (D-MI) in November. The 8th District, which encompasses the communities of Flint, Saginaw, and Bay City, voted narrowly for Trump by two points in 2024. At the same time, McDonald Rivet won the seat by 7 points over GOP businessman Paul Junge.

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