Newhouse’s primary success rare among GOP impeachment voters

Aug 11, 2022, 8:30 AM | Updated: 3:27 pm

SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — The 4th Congressional District in Washington state is a land of snow-capped volcanic peaks and lush irrigated orchards that produce most of the nation’s apples. It’s also home to one of the few Republicans who voted to impeach former President Donald Trump and then won his next election.

U.S. Rep. Dan Newhouse was one of 10 Republicans who voted to impeach Trump last year, and is one of only two to beat back GOP challengers this year.

Newhouse was the leading vote-getter in the race for his seat in the Aug. 2 Washington primary election, despite withering criticism from Trump and a Trump-backed challenger. Meanwhile, U.S. Rep. David Valadao, R-Calif. – who like Newhouse ran in a top-two open primary – also prevailed two months ago.

U.S. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Wash., who also voted to impeach Trump and represents the Vancouver area, conceded to Trump-backed challenger Joe Kent on Tuesday night.

Analysts say Newhouse had a couple of advantages that allowed him to beat back strong challenges from Republicans Loren Culp, who had Trump’s backing, and Jerrod Sessler, who was in Washington, D.C., during the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection and poured a lot of his own money into the race.

Culp, a former small-town police officer, consistently blasted Newhouse as a RINO, or Republican in name only. That wasn’t enough to defeat Newhouse, who came from a well-known farming family and was seeking a fifth term.

“Newhouse had a lot more credibility in the agriculture community,” Cornell Clayton, head of the Thomas S. Foley Institute at Washington State University, said this week. “And Culp just doesn’t. I think that did him in.”

Sessler, a former NASCAR driver spent about $500,000 — mostly his own money — but finished a distant fourth in the race.

Washington’s primary system, in which all candidates run on the same ballot, and the top two vote getters advance to November, regardless of party, also helped Newhouse, analysts said.

“The short answer is this: Newhouse benefitted from our Top 2 primary system, especially given there was a legitimate (if still long shot) Democrat running,” Todd Schaefer, a political science professor at Central Washington University, wrote in an e-mail. “And of course he had the power of incumbency that gave him the ability to tout his record and attack Biden and Culp.”

With Republican votes split among six challengers, that allowed the lone Democrat in the race, farmer Doug White of the Yakima Valley, to finish second and advance to the general election.

White will be a longshot in November in what is arguably the state’s most conservative district.

It encompasses a large area of central Washington, covering the counties of Klickitat, Douglas, Okanogan, Grant, Yakima, Franklin, Benton, and Adams. The district, dominated by the Yakima and Tri-Cities communities, is considerably more conservative than the western part of the state.

No Democratic presidential candidate has carried any county in the district since Bill Clinton in 1992 carried Okanogan County. None of the other counties in the district have backed a Democrat for President since Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964, while Adams County has not voted Democratic since Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1936.

The last Democrat to represent the district was Jay Inslee, who won the seat in 1992 and lost it in the Republican wave of 1994. Inslee is now the governor of Washington.

Newhouse is the scion of a prominent farming family based in the Yakima Valley town of Sunnyside, and and is nobody’s idea of a liberal. He has consistently received “A” ratings from the National Rifle Association and Susan B. Anthony List, a leading anti-abortion organization. He also is fighting environmental groups who want to remove four big hydro dams on the Snake River to save endangered salmon.

The Newhouse family operates an 850-acre farm near Sunnyside where they grow hops for local breweries, grapes for local wineries, tree fruit, and alfalfa.

Of the 10 House Republicans who voted for Trump’s impeachment, four opted not to run for reelection. Michigan Rep. Peter Meijer was defeated in a primary on Aug. 2 by Trump-endorsed John Gibbs and Rep. Tom Rice of South Carolina lost to a Trump-endorsed challenger in June. Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming is bracing for defeat in her Aug. 16 primary against a Trump-backed rival.

Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

AP

(AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)...

Associated Press

Donald Trump stored, showed off and refused to return classified documents, indictment says

An indictment charging former President Donald Trump with mishandling classified documents has been unsealed.

2 days ago

FILE - A bottle of Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey is displayed next to a Bad Spaniels dog toy in A...

Associated Press

Ruff day in court: Supreme Court sides with Jack Daniel’s in dispute with makers of dog toy

The Supreme Court on Thursday gave whiskey maker Jack Daniel's reason to raise a glass, handing the company a new chance to win a trademark dispute with the makers of the Bad Spaniels dog toy.

3 days ago

(Pixabay Photo)...

Associated Press

6 arrested in alleged scheme to fraudulently collect millions in COVID aid meant for renters

Six people from Washington, Arizona and Texas have been arrested and accused of fraudulently obtaining millions of dollars of COVID-19 aid from an assistance program meant for renters, federal prosecutors said.

3 days ago

FILE - Protesters stand outside of the Senate chamber at the Indiana Statehouse on Feb. 22, 2023, i...

Associated Press

LGBTQ+ Americans are under attack, Human Rights Campaign declares in state of emergency warning

The Human Rights Campaign declared a state of emergency for LGBTQ+ people in the U.S. on Tuesday.

5 days ago

FILE - People wait in line outside the Supreme Court in Washington to listen to oral arguments in a...

Associated Press

Supreme Court opened the door to states’ voting restrictions. Now a new ruling could widen them.

Within hours of a U.S. Supreme Court decision dismantling a key provision of the Voting Rights Act, Texas lawmakers announced plans to implement a strict voter ID law that had been blocked by a federal court. Lawmakers in Alabama said they would press forward with a similar law that had been on hold.

5 days ago

Gavel (Pexels Photo)...

Associated Press

Ex-teacher sentenced to prison for making death threat against Arizona legislator

A former Tucson middle school teacher was sentenced Tuesday to 2 ½ years in prison after pleading guilty to making a death threat against Arizona state Sen. Wendy Rogers.

5 days ago

Sponsored Articles

...

OCD & Anxiety Treatment Center

How to identify the symptoms of 3 common anxiety disorders

Living with an anxiety disorder can be debilitating and cause significant stress for those who suffer from the condition.

(Photo: OCD & Anxiety Treatment Center)...

OCD & Anxiety Treatment Center

Here’s what you need to know about OCD and where to find help

It's fair to say that most people know what obsessive-compulsive spectrum disorders generally are, but there's a lot more information than meets the eye about a mental health diagnosis that affects about one in every 100 adults in the United States.

(Photo by Michael Matthey/picture alliance via Getty Images)...

Cox Communications

Valley Boys & Girls Club uses esports to help kids make healthy choices

KTAR’s Community Spotlight focuses on the Boys & Girls Club of the Valley and the work to incorporate esports into children's lives.

Newhouse’s primary success rare among GOP impeachment voters