Impeachment warrior or showboater? Trump’s shadow looms over a controversial Democratic primary

Get ready for the newest bipartisan political phenomenon to hit the House of Representatives: the impeachment warrior.

With Donald Trump’s first term — capped off by a bloody riot and siege of the Capitol aimed at overturning the last presidential election — in the mirror, Americans are looking ahead to an expected rematch between Trump and Joe Biden in November. And both parties are taking advantage of the unique dynamic that the possible return of a twice-impeached 34-times-convicted former president means for congressional races around the country.

The result? A group of candidates, Democrats and Republicans both, running for office with little to no political experience — but often backed by powerful national figures tied to the two sides of the first and second impeachments of Donald Trump in the House of Representatives.

In May,one of those candidates faced the music in Maryland. Harry Dunn, a former officer with US Capitol Police present on January 6, charged into the primary in Maryland’s third congressional district backed by national Democrats including Adam Schiff, the lead impeachment manager for Donald Trump’s first Senate trial. He lost, coming around 10 points behind state Senator Sarah Elfreth, who was backed by a surge of money from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).

During the campaign, Dunn faced attacks for not living in the district and having no ties to state political movements or organizations. His defeat came despite being called a “real-life superhero” by one congresswoman and having been the only candidate in the race to score multiple interviews on cable news to promote his candidacy — or any cable slots, for that matter.

On Tuesday, in Virginia’s seventh congressional