Missouri's Michael Guest, Republican, faces ethics probe after primary runoff

WASHINGTON - Rep. Michael Guest, R-Miss. After a primary runoff Tuesday, NBC News projects, after he angered supporters of former President Donald Trump by voting in May 2021 to establish an independent commission to investigate the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Guest, a two-term incumbent from the state's 3rd District, came in second to Michael Cassidy in the first round of voting on June 7.

Cassidy was forced to defend his onetime support for a Medicare-for-all-style health insurance program in the runoff. Although Cassidy dissented himself from the position, it was archived on his campaign's website.

Guest's vote in the year 2021 was for a never-chartered independent commission, not the House select committee probing the Capitol attack, which held its sixth public hearing Tuesday.

If Guest was hurt by the awkward timing, it wasn't enough to prevent him from winning the re-election.

In the state's Gulf Coast-based 4th district, the state's 4th district was ruled by Rep. Steven Palazzo, R-Miss. Mike Ezell was trying to hold onto the challenger.

Palazzo, a six-term incumbent and a member of the House Appropriations Committee, faces a House ethics investigation into possible misuse of campaign funds.

Ezell, a longtime local sheriff and former county chair for Trump, hounded Palazzo over the ethics probe and was absent from the House chamber.

Several times during the current Congress, Palazzo wrote letters to Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif, designating colleagues to vote for him by proxy because the Covid epidemic prevented him from participating in person.

Palazzo came in first among seven candidates with 31.6 percent of the vote in the first round of voting on June 7, but didn't hit the majority threshold to avoid a runoff. Ezell came in second with 25.1 percent of the vote.

There isn't yet a winner for the race, according to NBC News.