History of Peter Meijer in Timeline
1982
Ultimately, Meijer defeated Scholten, 53%–47%. It was the closest race in the district since Harold S. Sawyer was held to 53% in what was then the 5th district in 1982, and only the second time since 1982 that a Democrat had managed 40% of the vote (Amash's Democratic opponent, Cathy Albro, had taken 43% two years earlier). He ran slightly ahead of Trump, who narrowly carried the district with 51% of the vote.
January 10, 1988
Peter James Meijer (/ˈmaɪ.ər/, MY-ər; born January 10, 1988) is an American politician and business analyst who served as the U.S. representative for Michigan's 3rd congressional district from 2021 to 2023. A member of the Republican Party, Meijer was a candidate in the 2024 United States Senate election in Michigan to succeed Debbie Stabenow. He dropped out on April 26, 2024.
2006
Meijer graduated from East Grand Rapids High School in 2006. He initially studied for one year at the United States Military Academy at West Point before transferring to Columbia University in 2008, graduating with a bachelor's degree in cultural anthropology in 2012. At Columbia, he was an advocate for reinstating the Reserve Officers' Training Corps on campus. He was also a volunteer emergency medical technician for Columbia University's emergency medical services. From 2008 to 2016, Meijer served in the United States Army Reserve and was deployed to Iraq from 2010 into 2011, serving as an intelligence advisor.
2016
Meijer married Gabriella Zacarias in 2016. They have one child.
2017
In 2017, Meijer graduated from the New York University Stern School of Business with a Master of Business Administration.
April 2018
From 2013 to 2015, Meijer worked as a conflict analyst for an international NGO. He was later employed by Olympia Development of Michigan of Ilitch Holdings as an analyst from April 2018 to January 2019. During this time, Meijer also worked on veterans projects such as Project Rubicon, was on the advisory board of the With Honor super political action committee, and assisted with urban renewal projects throughout Michigan.
July 2019
Following Justin Amash's departure from the Republican Party in July 2019, Meijer announced his candidacy for Michigan's 3rd congressional district, competing in the Republican primary. He voiced his support for President Donald Trump, saying he would work with Trump to "make sure that we advance policies and an agenda that is in the best interest of West Michigan." In his primary campaign, Meijer received funding from several wealthy Michigan-based business families and outraised the other Republican candidates.
2020
In 2020, Meijer was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Michigan's 3rd congressional district. He was one of 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Donald Trump during Trump's second impeachment. Meijer sought re-election in 2022, but lost the Republican primary to former Trump administration official John Gibbs, who lost the general election to Democrat Hillary Scholten.
January 06, 2020
On October 21, 2021, Meijer was one of nine House Republicans to vote to hold Steve Bannon in contempt of Congress for defying the subpoena he received issued by the House Select Committee investigating the January 6, 2020 insurrection.
2021
In 2021, Meijer co-sponsored the Fairness for All Act, the Republican alternative to the Equality Act. The bill would prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity, and protect the free exercise of religion.
2021
In 2021, Meijer was one of 29 Republicans to vote to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act. This bill expanded legal protections for transgender people, and contained provisions allowing transgender women to use women's shelters and serve time in prisons matching their gender identity.
January 13, 2021
Meijer accepted the 2020 presidential election results, announcing publicly that he accepted the outcome and recognized Joe Biden as president-elect. After experiencing the 2021 United States Capitol attack, he called on Republicans to take responsibility for their lies about election fraud. On January 13, 2021, he voted to impeach Donald Trump alongside nine other Republicans. The next day, Meijer stated in an interview with MSNBC that he had purchased body armor and made changes to his daily schedule due to threats against his life in reaction to his vote for impeachment. On January 20, 2021, the day of Biden's inauguration, Meijer was one of 17 newly elected House Republicans to sign a letter congratulating him and expressing hope of working across the partisan divide.
March 21, 2021
On March 21, 2021, Meijer signed a letter pressing Biden to stop Enbridge Line 5, an oil pipeline, from being shut down in May. Congressional members' concerns about the pipeline's closure intensified after Biden revoked the Keystone XL Pipeline permit.
May 19, 2021
On May 19, 2021, Meijer became one of 35 Republicans who joined all Democrats in voting to approve legislation to establish the January 6 commission meant to investigate the 2021 United States Capitol attack.
May 23, 2021
On May 23, 2021, Meijer condemned Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene's comparison between having to wear face masks in the House and the Holocaust. He was the first Republican to condemn Greene's remarks and said that "such comparisons demean the Holocaust and contaminate American political speech."
June 2021
In June 2021, Meijer was one of 49 House Republicans to vote to repeal the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002.
July 2021
In July 2021, Meijer voted for the bipartisan ALLIES Act, which would increase by 8,000 the number of special immigrant visas for Afghan allies of the U.S. military during its invasion of Afghanistan, while also reducing some application requirements that caused long application backlogs; the bill passed the House, 407–16.
August 24, 2021
On August 24, 2021, Meijer and Representative Seth Moulton flew unannounced into Hamid Karzai International Airport during the 2021 Taliban offensive amid the evacuation of Americans and allies. The Defense Department and then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi were not given advance notice of their intent. The next day, Pelosi sent a letter to all House members saying that "the Departments of Defense and State have requested that Members not travel to Afghanistan and the region during this time of danger" because such travel "would unnecessarily divert needed resources" from the evacuation efforts.
September 2021
In September 2021, Meijer was among 135 House Republicans to vote for the National Defense Authorization Act of 2022, which contains a provision that would require women to register for the draft.
2022
In 2022, Meijer was one of 14 House Republicans to support a bipartisan agreement on gun control, which included a red flag provision, support for state crisis intervention orders, funding for school safety resources, stronger background checks for buyers under 21, and penalties for straw purchases. On July 29, 2022, Meijer joined a majority of his Republican colleagues and five Democrats in voting against H.R. 1808, a bill to ban assault weapons.
2022
In 2022, Meijer was one of 39 Republicans to vote for the Merger Filing Fee Modernization Act of 2022, an antitrust package that would crack down on corporations for anti-competitive behavior.
2022
In 2022, Meijer was one of six Republicans to vote for the Global Respect Act, which imposes sanctions on foreign persons responsible for violations of the internationally recognized human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex (LGBTQI) people, and for other purposes.
May 2022
in May 2022, Meijer was one of 16 House Republicans to vote for the Recovering America's Wildlife Act. The bill would provide states, territories, and tribes with $1.39 billion annually to catalyze efforts to restore habitats and implement conservation strategies, as described in each state's Wildlife Action Plan.
July 19, 2022
On July 19, 2022, Meijer and 46 other Republican representatives voted for the Respect for Marriage Act, which would codify the right to same-sex marriage in federal law.
November 2022
Meijer ran for reelection in the district for the 2022 elections. His primary opponent was John Gibbs, a former Trump administration official. In the final days of the primary, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee bought TV ads designed to raise Gibbs' profile, believing that Meijer would be the more difficult opponent in the general election. Meijer lost the August 2 primary to Gibbs. Meijer said he would not support Gibbs in the November election. In November 2022, Gibbs lost the general election to Meijer's 2020 opponent, Democrat Hillary Scholten.
November 2023
In November 2023, Meijer announced his candidacy for the U.S. Senate in 2024. The seat became open when incumbent Democratic senator Debbie Stabenow chose to retire rather than seek a fifth term earlier that year. A source close to Meijer reported that the NRSC had previously urged Meijer not to join the race in fear of splitting the primary vote between himself and Mike Rogers, the party's preferred choice, thus handing the nomination to James Craig. Although he had gained a reputation for being an outspoken critic of Donald Trump following the January 6 United States Capitol attack, Meijer stated in an interview shortly after launching his Senate bid that he would support Trump if he became the Republican Party nominee in the 2024 presidential election, viewing President Joe Biden as more of a threat than another Trump term. Meijer withdrew from the Senate race on April 26, 2024, stating that continuing his campaign would create more divisiveness that would "distract from the essential goal" of Republicans winning in Michigan.