SEATTLE — One of the last remaining Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives who voted to impeach Donald Trump and a candidate endorsed by the former president advanced Tuesday in the primary for the general election in Washington state’s 4th Congressional District.
U.S. Rep. Dan Newhouse is seeking a sixth term in the conservative Washington district that runs from the Canadian border to the Columbia River. He will face Republican Jerrod Sessler, a Navy veteran and former NASCAR driver, in November.
This was a rematch for the pair of 2022, when Sessler finished a distant fourth in the primary. This time, Sessler said, things have gone his way. He was endorsed by the Washington state Republican Party and received Trump’s early support, which he called a “game changer.” He said he is in regular communication with Trump’s team, referencing a text message he received from the GOP presidential nominee this year that read, “The country is counting on you.”
“Ninety days from now, this district will vote overwhelmingly for President Trump,” Sessler said in a statement. “I will work hard to ensure that we also elect a Congressman who will be his greatest ally in our fight to advance a pro-Constitution, pro-MAGA agenda and heal our nation from the disaster of the Biden-Harris administration.”
Newhouse has largely avoided the subject of Trump. The third-generation farmer has focused instead on agriculture and border security in a state with millions of acres of pastures, orchards and grain fields where immigrant labor is extremely important.
In the run-up to the primaries, Newhouse’s opponents repeatedly called his vote to impeach Trump a huge burden. But political experts have cautioned that it’s hard to say whether the endorsement will sway voters who stuck with Newhouse two years ago.
Newhouse and the US Representative David Valadaofrom California, are the only Republican members of Congress left of the 10 who voted to impeach Trump in 2021. Others retired or were defeated by Trump-backed challengers in the primaries.
As of July 17, Newhouse, who was backed by the NRA and National Right to Life, had raised $1.6 million — far more than the $409,000 raised by Sessler.
They defeated Tiffany Smiley, a former nurse who entered the race after losing to U.S. Sen. Patty Murray two years ago. She received Trump’s endorsement just three days before the primary, a unique but not unprecedented double endorsement from the former president. But Smiley’s endorsement likely came too late to sway many voters in the state that votes by mail.
Under the state’s primary system, the two candidates with the most votes advance to the November election, regardless of party affiliation.