Tue. Nov 26th, 2024

Jerrod Sessler, left, is running for a seat that U.S. Rep. Dan Newhouse, right, has held since 2015. (Photos courtesy of campaigns)

Republican Congressman Dan Newhouse, who represents central Washington, held a narrow lead Tuesday over fellow Republican Jerrod Sessler, who put a spotlight on the incumbent’s vote to impeach Donald Trump nearly four years ago.

Newhouse, one of a handful of GOP House members to back impeachment in 2021, led Sessler 50.3% to 48% in the first night of ballot counting. He is seeking a sixth term.

Results will be updated as more votes are tallied.

The Republican-versus-Republican fight is in a district stretching from the Canadian border to the Oregon state line. It includes the agriculture-heavy Yakima Valley, the Yakama Indian Reservation, and the Tri-Cities, which are a regional hub.

Newhouse, 69, of Sunnyside, was elected to Congress in 2014 and re-elected four times. House Speaker Mike Johnson and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise campaigned with him in the final days of the campaign.

Before entering Congress, Newhouse served in the Washington House of Representatives from 2003 to 2009. Then, for four years, he was director of the state Department of Agriculture under then-governor Christine Gregoire, a Democrat. Newhouse’s family operates an 850-acre farm.

Sessler, 55, of Prosser, a Navy veteran and businessman, garnered Trump’s endorsement early on. Sessler founded a company called HomeTask, a website that connects customers to local handymen and other home service providers. He also raced in a regional NASCAR series in the early 2000s.

Newhouse drew the ire of fellow Republicans ever since joining nine GOP colleagues in voting to impeach Trump after the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol. 

Sessler was among the Trump supporters who attended that day’s rally outside the White House and ensuing march. He told The Spokesman-Review he never entered the Capitol that day and he argues, like Trump, that the people who pleaded guilty or were convicted of crimes related to the riot should be freed and pardoned.

 In 2022, Newhouse was the only Republican voting for impeachment to overcome a Trump-backed challenger in a primary. He fended off a raft of Republican opponents, including Sessler and Loren Culp, who was Trump’s choice that year. Newhouse went on to easily beat a Democrat in that year’s general election. 

Trump’s support for Sessler seemed to pay dividends when he won the 4th District primary. In the August contest, 75% of votes cast went to three Republicans – Sessler (33%), Newhouse (23.4%) and Tiffany Smiley (19.3%) who, late in the race, also received Trump’s backing.

In the general election, Sessler calculated that Newhouse would need votes of Democratic and independent voters to return to Congress. 

With this in mind, Sessler talked up the write-in campaign of Cherissa Boyd, a Democrat. He also put out a mailer containing her photo and a message to “make a plan to vote Republican” alongside an image of a ballot with a box filled in for Boyd.

During his time in Congress, Newhouse has opposed calls to remove hydropower dams on the Snake River. He’s served on a select committee focused on national security concerns related to China. And he’s worked on immigration reforms related to agricultural labor.

Newhouse reported $2.3 million in contributions with $426,000 in cash on hand as of mid-October. Sessler hauled in $617,000 with about $135,000 unspent, according to filings with the Federal Election Commission.

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