With the help of former President Donald Trump, Republican Rep. Mary Miller of Illinois defeated a long-time incumbent who had voted to create the House panel investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol incursion.
Miller faced Republican Rep. Rodney Davis in a primary on Tuesday that came about through redistricting.
With 91 percent of the voting precincts reporting, she led Davis 57.2 percent to 42.8 percent in the GOP race for the state’s newly gerrymandered 15th Congressional District, according to The New York Times.
Trump said Miller was “a warrior for our movement” when he staged a rally for her this weekend.
THANK YOU PRESIDENT TRUMP for your endorsement and support! Everyone please get out and vote TODAY, polls close at 7pm! Vote for President Trump’s endorsed candidates, Mary Miller for Congress and @DarrenBaileyIL for Governor! pic.twitter.com/DuBYX1R6Wq
— Mary Miller (@Miller_Congress) June 28, 2022
Miller said in an interview with Fox News on Friday that Davis “stabbed President Trump in the back multiple times, and the people in the 15th District don’t appreciate it. Voting for the Jan. 6 commission has outraged people.”
“My friends, this race is between MAGA and a RINO establishment member,” she said during one rally, according to the Times, using the acronym for “Republican in name only.”
Miller campaigned on a strong anti-Washington theme in a district the Times called one of the most conservative in the state.
Will the GOP gain control of Congress this fall?
“The global elites are determined to destroy our way of life, including the family farm,” she said at a recent rally. “We will not let them destroy us. We are Americans. This is our beautiful country, and we will never surrender to the Marxists in Washington.”
Trump supported other winners Tuesday, including Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado.
Boebert won her primary with over 65 percent of the vote.
Freedom wins!
Thank you for all of your support.
I love and appreciate all of you and promise to work as hard as I can to help get our country back on track! pic.twitter.com/QXgH3ZT39E
— Lauren Boebert (@laurenboebert) June 29, 2022
Moms, freedom fighters, and professional RINO hunters! pic.twitter.com/HMwlOC83jn
— Lauren Boebert (@laurenboebert) June 29, 2022
Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah also won a primary with Trump’s backing, as did Republican Reps. Burgess Owens and Chris Stewart of Utah.
“Utah Republican voters have spoken tonight, and they had a choice,” Lee said at a victory rally, according to The Salt Lake City Tribune. “They made the choice for freedom.”
“They made a choice, rejecting the Biden administration’s failed policies,” he said.
All in all, according to Politico, all 17 candidates Trump endorsed won, including Illinois state Sen. Darren Bailey, who is running for governor.
In a weekend rally, Trump called Bailey an “outstanding warrior in the Illinois state Senate where he’s totally, totally respected by all of them,” and labeled Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker “one of the worst governors in America.”