DOUGLAS COUNTY, Wash. — Republican Dan Newhouse, who is running for reelection to the U.S. District 4 seat, is currently trailing a Trump-backed political newcomer Jerrod Sessler after the initial round of returns Tuesday evening.
Sessler leads with 30% of the vote, Newhouse is trailing with 25% and Tiffany Smiley, who previously challenged Patty Murray for her Senate seat, is in third with 19%. Results are subject to change as more ballots are counted in the coming days. If Newhouse can hold on to one of the top two spots, he will advance to November's general election.
U.S. District 4 covers much of Central Washington, including Okanogan, Douglas, Grant, Adams, Franklin, Benton, Yakima and Walla Walla counties. Newhouse has served as District 4 representative since 2015.
Newhouse was one of only 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Former President Donald Trump following the Jan. 6 Capitol Riot. Reporting per Politico indicates that, in the years since, Trump has been actively angling to unseat those lawmakers as they come up for reelection. He has succeeded in ousting eight of them.
Just days before the August primary, Trump posted on Truth Social that "Newhouse has to go," offering endorsements for both Sessler and Smiley for the District 4 seat.
Former Rep. Jaime Herrera Butler was another House Republican who voted to impeach Trump following the Capitol riot. She was ousted from her seat after a Trump-backed political newcomer, Joe Kent, took the second spot in the primary, blocking Herrera Butler's path to the November general election. Another political newcomer, Democrat and current District 3 Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp-Perez, went on to win the seat in the general.