Tom Norton says too many people have lost faith in their elected officials.
That’s partly why the Grand Rapids man, who is an unabashed Trump supporter, is looking to challenge Republican Rep. Peter Meijer in the 2022 GOP primary to represent Michigan’s 3rd Congressional District.
Meijer voted to impeach former President Donald Trump in the House earlier this month on a charge of “incitement of insurrection” in connection to the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol that left five people dead. His predecessor, former Rep. Justin Amash, became the first GOP lawmaker to call for Trump’s impeachment in 2019 over issues related to Ukraine.
“He went out and violated the public trust,” Norton said of Meijer in an interview with the Washington Examiner. “He was elected with the intent in the Republican primary that he was going to go to D.C. and defend Donald Trump. When he gets to D.C., with only eight days left in Trump’s term, he votes for impeachment with no hearing.”
Norton, 38, is a small businessman, former trustee and village president in Sand Lake, and combat veteran who served in Afghanistan.
Norton took on Meijer last August in a five-way Republican primary but came in third behind Meijer and former state Rep. Lynn Afendoulis. Norton says Meijer’s ability to bring in big donations gave him an advantage, but he’s prepared for a stronger campaign next year. According to the Detroit News, Meijer brought in about $3 million.
During the primary, opponents of Meijer were quick to paint him as a “Never Trumper” in a district that the former president won by a 10-point margin in 2016.
Meijer, who at times expressed open disagreement with Trump’s policies, defended himself in a tweet, saying he vowed to work with Trump but wasn’t afraid to stray from the former president if the situation warranted it.
Not even remotely true. My motto: return “strong, stable, and effective leadership” like Gerald Ford, Paul Henry, & Vern Ehlers but hoped to build working relationship w/Trump. Was only primary candidate willing to say where I disagreed w/Trump + emphasized “not a rubber stamp.” https://t.co/SnyM8EKsBq
— Peter Meijer (@VoteMeijer) January 24, 2021
Norton says the other factor that separates him from not only Meijer, but other lawmakers in Washington, is his ability to succeed from the ground up. Meijer is an heir to the multibillion-dollar Midwestern supermarket chain and is the son of a billionaire.
“Peter was born into a family that gave him Congress because of his name. He knows that. I know that, and it’s not personal,” Norton said. “What makes me different from Peter Meijer and almost everyone else that goes to Washington is that I earned my own path and my own way without having to do it for anybody else.”
Meijer, 33, is an Army veteran and largely a political newcomer. He was inside the U.S. Capitol when a mob of pro-Trump rioters stormed the building, and a week later vowed to impeach the former president. He was one of 10 Republicans who voted to impeach Trump. Meijer later said he had to buy body armor because of threats he received for his vote.
Meijer’s support for impeachment briefly put him in the spotlight of national media, and he received the praise of some pundits and from his Democratic colleague from Michigan, Rep. Dan Kildee, who said he showed “tremendous courage.”
Meijer said voting to impeach a president, especially one from his own party, was “absolutely gut wrecking,” but added that Trump betrayed the oath of office and “bears responsibility for inciting the insurrection we suffered.”
Trump was impeached by the House 232-197, making him the first president to be impeached twice. The Senate trial is expected to start next month for Trump, who was succeeded by President Biden on Wednesday.
Norton says Trump shouldn’t bear sole blame for what happened, adding he thinks the former president was held to a higher standard than Democrats. He also insists there were problems with the 2020 election that were never addressed.
“I will not sit there and hold Donald Trump responsible until the Democrats take responsibility for the 5,000 riots that they instilled throughout this entire country for four solid years,” Norton said, referring largely to violent protests over the summer. “If you’re going to hold me at a standard for one, you need to hold yourself to a standard for 5,000.”
When asked if he believes Biden was the legitimate victor, Norton cited his broader point that election fraud concerns raised by Trump’s legal team were largely dismissed without sufficient inquiry.
“It’s not on me to sit there and judge whether or not [Biden] is a legitimate president,” Norton said. “The problem is they should’ve done those investigations. They had the evidence, given a day in court in the first place.”
Even though Norton plans to take on Meijer for the second time, and he says they have vast policy disagreement, the two have a friendly relationship. Norton says his attacks on Meijer’s brief record isn’t personal.
“There’s a lot of different things we disagree on,” Norton said. “I’m not going to attack him personally, but I will attack him based upon what he says in public and how he campaigns, and that’s fair game for either of us.”
