Rep. Dan Newhouse, one of the two remaining Republicans who voted to impeach President Donald Trump after his supporters rioted at the Capitol in 2021, was running behind a Trump-backed challenger in Tuesday’s primary in Washington.
The race had not been called when counting stopped early Wednesday, however. And if Newhouse keeps his second-place position he’ll still make the November ballot because Washington’s primaries nominate the top two finishers in a primary regardless of party.
But defeating another Republican, with Trump at the top of the ticket, will be a much more difficult task for Newhouse than he faced in 2022.
Voters in Washington races also chose nominees for open seats in the Republican-leaning 5th District and the Democratic-leaning 6th District and set a rematch in a battleground 3rd District race, where Marie Gluesenkamp Perez is one of five Democrats representing a district that backed Trump over Joe Biden in 2020.
Here’s a rundown of the results:
Newhouse trailing Sessler
Navy veteran and former NASCAR driver Jerrold Sessler was leading an eight-candidate race with nearly 30 percent of the vote, followed by Newhouse with 25 percent, when counting by The Associated Press stopped early Wednesday morning.
Newhouse was one of 10 members of the House GOP conference who voted to impeach Trump and when he sought reelection in 2022, six Republicans, including Sessler, ran in the primary against him. That divided his opposition in the party and gave the second spot on the November ballot to a Democrat, who Newhouse then beat by a more than 2-to-1 margin.
Trump took to Truth Social over the weekend to blast Newhouse, calling him “a weak and pathetic RINO…who stupidly voted to impeach me for absolutely no reason.” Trump had backed Sessler earlier in the campaign, and his most recent post also threw his support behind Tiffany Smiley, the loser of the 2022 Senate race who had about 20 percent of the vote in early tallies of Tuesday’s race. The field also included three Democrats and two independents.
The AP estimated about 55 percent of the vote, which is conducted almost entirely by mail in Washington, had been tallied. If the results hold, it would mean about 50 percent of Republicans chose someone other than Newhouse, and his only chance of victory would be for Democrats to support him over the Trump-backed opponent.
Newhouse had a cash advantage going into the primary, raising $1.6 million to Smiley’s $720,000 and Sessler’s $409,000. His campaign was boosted by the Defending Main Street super PAC and Clearpath Action Fund, which supports Republican candidates who back nuclear energy, natural gas and carbon capture programs.
Rematch set between Kent, Gluesenkamp Perez
A rematch is set in a southwest Washington battleground district between a Trump-backed Republican, Joe Kent, and Gluesenkamp Perez, a Blue Dog Democrat with working class roots.
Just after 11:19 p.m. Eastern, when the AP called the race, Gluesenkamp Perez was ahead with almost 47 percent of the vote. Kent came in second, with 38 percent. Republican Leslie Lewallen, a member of the Camas City Council, and independent John Saulie-Rohman also were on the primary ballot.
The race, rated a Toss-up by Inside Elections, is among the nation’s most competitive and could be instrumental in determining which party controls the House. Biden lost the district by 4.3 percentage points in 2020.
Gluesenkamp Perez has raised $6.7 million and had $3.8 million on hand as of July 17. Kent, who lost the 2022 contest by less than 3,000 votes, raised $1.3 million and had $585,000 on hand.
Gluesenkamp Perez has cast herself as an independent-minded moderate. The freshman lawmaker was one of two Democrats to break with her party and vote to overturn Biden’s student loan relief plan and, earlier this summer, she called on Biden not just to drop his reelection campaign but suggested he also resign from office due to concerns about his age and health.
Kent has received support from Protect Freedom PAC, which is affiliated with Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky. He also has the endorsement of Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., the former chairman of the House Freedom Caucus.
Baumgartner advances in 5th District
Republican Michael Baumgartner, the Spokane County treasurer, secured a place in November’s election, but he was still waiting to learn the identity of his opponent.
Baumgartner is vying for the seat currently held by Republican Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, who announced in February that she wouldn’t seek an 11th term. The race is rated Solid Republican by Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales.
Baumgartner had 29 percent when The Associated Press said he would be advancing to November. Democrat Carmela Conroy, a retired diplomat, was running in second in the 11-candidate field with nearly 20 percent of the vote as of early Wednesday morning but The AP had not made a call with respect to the second spot on the November ballot. Republican Jacqeuelin Maycumber was running third with 12 percent.
Close race for Kilmer seat
Democrat Emily Randall and Republican Drew C. MacEwen, both state senators, were leading with an estimated 62 percent of the vote counted and no winners declared in the race for the open seat in the 6th District.
When counting stopped at 12:30 a.m., Randall had 33 percent to MacEwen’s 31 percent, with 26 percent backing Hillary Franz, the state’s commissioner of public lands.
The district, which includes most of Tacoma and the Olympic Peninsula, has been represented by Democratic Rep. Derek Kilmer since 2013. Kilmer, who said last year he would not run again, won in 2022 with 60 percent of the vote, and Inside Elections rates the race as Solid Democratic.
The contest attracted $2.4 million in outside spending, all but $55,000 of it going to support Randall. That included $1.5 million from Protect Progress, a super PAC backed by the cryptocurrency industry. Franz’s campaign tried to tie Randall to two of the fund’s backers, billionaires Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, who recently endorsed Trump.
Franz and Randall both have secured high-profile endorsements from prominent Democrats: Franz has the backing of Kilmer and former Rep. Norm Dicks and was endorsed by The Seattle Times. Randall has the support of BOLD PAC, the political arm of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Planned Parenthood Action Fund, Equality PAC and Sen. Patty Murray.
Republican Goers to face Schrier
Democratic Rep. Kim Schrier, who was a GOP target in 2020 and 2022, will defend the 8th District seat against Republican Carmen Goers, a commercial banker and volunteer who came in second in Tuesday’s all-party primary.
After the AP called the race shortly after polls closed, Schrier had 52 percent of the vote and Goers had 44 percent. Schrier entered the primary with $3.3 million in her campaign account, while Goers had $5,000.
The race is rated Likely Democratic by Inside Elections. Biden won the district in 2020 by 7.2 percentage points.
Schrier and Goers beat out two other Democrats, Keith Arnold and Imraan Siddiqi.
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