U.S. Rep. Dan Newhouse, one of two Republicans representing Washington state in Congress, will not run for reelection next year.
“Serving the Fourth District of Washington has been the honor of my life, and this decision comes with no reservations or remorse, only gratitude for the tremendous opportunity to have represented my home state in Congress,” he said in a statement Wednesday morning.
Newhouse, 70, of Sunnyside, was first elected to Congress in 2014. Before that, he 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-Gov. Christine Gregoire, a Democrat. Newhouse’s family operates an 850-acre farm.
He was one of 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Donald Trump after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. And he is one of two among that group who is still serving in Congress.
The 4th Congressional District has been represented by Republicans since the early 1990s.
In 2026, Newhouse was facing a potential rematch with Jerrod Sessler, a businessman whom Trump endorsed in his challenge against Newhouse in 2024. In that election cycle, Republican contender Tiffany Smiley also ran in the primary. Smiley, who lost a run against Patty Murray for her U.S. Senate seat in 2022, has not held elected office and is known for her work as a veterans advocate.
At least one Democrat is mounting a bid for the 4th District seat next year: John Duresky, a retired Air Force officer who also worked at the Hanford nuclear cleanup site.
The last Democrat to win a U.S. House seat in the 4th was former Gov. Jay Inslee. He won in 1992, but lost reelection after one term to Doc Hastings, a Republican, who held the seat until retiring in 2015.
The 4th Congressional District in central Washington stretches from the Canadian border to the Oregon state line. It includes the agriculture-heavy Yakima Valley, the Yakama Indian Reservation, and the Tri-Cities.
Newhouse’s announcement comes midway through his sixth term, one he said he was looking forward to because he would be in the House majority. With Republicans also in charge in the Senate and a GOP president, he foresaw his party “accomplishing good things for the country.”
Sessler, of Prosser, is a Navy veteran and founded a company called HomeTask, a website that connects customers to local home service providers.
Newhouse’s early notice that he’s not running creates the potential for a Republican-packed primary next August, similar to 2022 when six Republicans, including Sessler, ran against Newhouse because of his impeachment vote. That year, Sessler lost in the primary.
This is a developing story.
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