Michigan’s primary election is on Aug. 6. The U.S. Senate race is on the ballot. Voters will decide who advances to the general election in November in the race to replace Democratic U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, who’s retiring.
Michigan Public's Morning Edition is featuring a series of interviews with major-party candidates. (You can link to the rest of the candidate interviews at the bottom of this page.)
One of the four candidates on the Republican primary ballot is former U.S. Rep. Justin Amash, who represented the state’s third Congressional district in West Michigan from 2011 to 2021.
Amash spoke with Morning Edition host Doug Tribou.
Doug Tribou: You left office in 2021. Why did you decide to get back into politics now?
Justin Amash: Right now, we need someone who's going to be independent more than at any time in history. You have two candidates running for president, both of whom have a lot of questions coming from a lot of the electorate, including from people on their own side. And so I think this is a time when you need to send someone to Washington who will stand up and represent all the people of Michigan, regardless of who's in charge. And I have a record that proves I will do just that.
DT: Let's talk a bit about party affiliation. You were elected to the House as a Republican in 2019. You left the party to become an independent. You later briefly formed an exploratory committee to run for president as a libertarian, but didn't end up running. And you've said that you're not concerned with party affiliation.
With the changes that you've made from party to party, to independent, could it be hard for voters to fully understand your principles, or be sure of how you'd vote on various bills that might be important to them?
"I'm not asking people to vote for me because I'm running as a Republican. I'm asking people to vote for me because they know I will go and represent them well."Former U.S. Rep. Justin Amash, who is running for U.S. Senate
JA: My principles have been consistent. That doesn't mean I don't learn and come to new conclusions about things, but I've always been someone who follows the Constitution, protects people's rights, and is concerned about overspending. And throughout my time, I've never asked anyone to vote for me because I'm in a particular party. I'm not asking people to vote for me because I'm running as a Republican. I'm asking people to vote for me because they know I will go and represent them well.
DT: During this campaign, you have been urging people to check your voting record and see that you vote independently. I want to run a few things by you from your record that passed overwhelmingly, with bipartisan majorities, that you voted against in your final term in the House.
They include the Smithsonian Women's History Museum Act, which would have authorized the creation of the museum; the Emmett Till Antilynching Act, which would specifically outlaw lynching; a bill that would require the Environmental Protection Agency to designate PFAS chemicals as hazardous substances — certainly a problem here in Michigan that we've reported on extensively; and you voted against a non-binding resolution that would have denounced the absurd conspiracy theories surrounding QAnon.
I know that's sort of a long list there, but I wonder if you could explain some of those choices or if there's a philosophy that runs through them?
JA: Yeah, there is a philosophy that runs through them. As an example, the antilynching bill that came out that particular year, I criticized because the way it was written would actually do more harm to Black Americans, to ethnic minorities, and create a situation where they could be arrested for simply protesting something like police brutality.
The next year, when I wasn't serving in Congress anymore, I had left Congress, they brought a different version of the legislation forward, and that version actually took into consideration my criticisms.
Most members of Congress don't actually read these pieces of legislation. They just see a title. And if the title sounds appealing then they're going to go and vote for it.
DT: You are opposed to abortion. If legislation for a national ban on abortion came before the Senate, would you support it?
JA: Not as a blanket ban in the way that is often discussed. I think that abortion should be handled at the state level as a primary matter. But we also have an equal protection clause, which means that if a state does something egregious, the federal government can step in.
DT: Do you support any distinctions within abortion bans, for example, for the health or safety of the mother?
JA: There are, of course, the rights of the mother and there are the rights of the child. So these are rights that are sometimes in conflict. And we have to balance those things to the best of our ability. There's no perfect way to do it. So I've always supported those exceptions from a legislative standpoint.
DT: You have Palestinian and Syrian ancestry through your father and mother who immigrated to the U.S. And you have written about family members who've been killed during the current conflict in Gaza. What is your view of the Biden administration's response to the situation there?
"It's been awful. It's been just about the worst response you can have."U.S. Senate candidate Justin Amash on the Biden administration's response to the Israel-Hamas war.
JA: It's been awful. It's been just about the worst response you can have. He has repeatedly said he's concerned about civilian casualties, but then insists that Congress supply funding and weapons to offensive operations that are creating the civilian casualties.
I don't think President Trump has been perfect or outstanding on this issue either, so I want to be clear about that. But we do need someone who's going to go and promote diplomacy, work toward peace between the sides, and take firm positions.
DT: Do you support the aid that the United States provides to Israel for defensive purposes?
JA: I have supported defensive aid to other countries, not just Israel, in the past, but when we're talking about offensive operations, which is what this has evolved into, then no, I'm not supportive of them. And if the United States wants to engage in offensive operations, whether directly or through another country — which is what happens in many parts of the world now where we just supply the weapons and we don't actually send troops — but if the United States wants to do that, then the United States should declare war.
DT: Does that thinking also apply to Ukraine for you?
JA: Yes, to the extent that Ukraine is being supplied offensive weaponry, yes, absolutely. The majority of funding coming into Ukraine is now coming from the United States, so it is essentially our war.
DT: That hasn't been obfuscated. That is out in the public, spoken openly about by the administration, by members of Congress who support it. I mean, it is not as though we're running a secret proxy war in Europe.
JA: From my perspective, if you want to have a genuinely representative system, a genuinely democratic system, you have to have people on the record for the actual war, not just for the funding.
DT: In 2019, you broke with most House Republicans and voted for articles of impeachment against then President Trump. And at that time you tweeted, "to my Republican colleagues, step outside your media and social bubble. History will not look kindly on disingenuous, frivolous, and false defenses of this man." How do you feel about returning to the Republican Party with Trump once again at the top of the ticket?
JA: Well, would I rather have a Republican Party that reflects a more principled, libertarian-oriented ideology or philosophy? Absolutely. But we have a system where you are either running in the Republican Party or the Democratic Party if you want to have a chance at becoming an elected official within Michigan.
Parties are tools to organize people to win elections. We're not going to agree with everyone within our party on every issue. There are some times I do agree with President Trump. There are some times I agree with President Biden. And there are times when I will challenge each of them.
DT: A final question for you: will you accept the official results of the primary election, win or lose?
JA: Yes.
Editor's note: Quotes in this article have been edited for length and clarity.
We recorded this interview before the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump and before President Joe Biden ended his re-election campaign.
