(John Ransom, Headline USA) Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., one of 10 Republicans who voted to impeach President Trump in the House of Representatives, has decided to call it a career.
“Even the best stories has a last chapter. This is it for me,” Upton said during a speech in the House, according to the Associated Press.
“I’ve done the zillions of airline miles back and forth. I’ve signed Fred to over a million letters, cast more votes than anyone in this chamber while here and by most accounts have succeeded in making a difference, accomplishing what I’ve set out to do with more unfinished work still yet to come,” he said.
Upton is the latest of the GOP impeachers of Trump to retire rather than face the voters again, joining Reps. John Katko, New York, Adam Kinzinger, Illinois, and Anthony Gonzalez, Ohio, in retirement.
Another One Bites The Dust:
Fred Upton (R-MI) — who voted to impeach President Trump — is retiring.
❌John Katko
❌Fred Upton
❌Adam Kinzinger
❌Anthony Gonzalez— #ThePersistence (@ScottPresler) April 5, 2022
While Trump had endorsed a GOP primary opponent against Upton, redistricting that forced Upton into a seat with a current representative, Bill Huizenga, a six-term congressman, in a district that likely looks more Republican than the district Upton represented previously, probably had a bigger hand in the decision, according to the Cook Political Report.
Upton said that he would’ve preferred a formal censure of the president, but said: “Enough is enough,” and characterized Trump’s rhetoric to the crowd that was rallying at the Capitol on Jan. 6 as “inflammatory,” in a statement supporting his decision to impeach Trump.
“I fear this will now interfere with important legislative business and a new Biden Administration,” concluded Upton, which could serve as an epitaph for Upton’s political obituary.
Upton came into Congress already a rich man, as an heir to the Whirlpool Corp., with an estimated net worth in 2008 of about $16 million, $6 million of which came in Whirlpool stock, according to Open Secrets.
By 2018, the last year for which records are available, Upton’s net worth grew to over $78 million, of which $18,750,001 was made up of Whirlpool Corp.
