The former president last week endorsed Jerrod Sessler, a conservative Republican who has never held public office but is once again challenging Newhouse in the race for Washington state’s 4th District.
In a post shared on his social media site Truth Social, Trump said Sessler is “MAGA through and through and he has my complete and utter support – he will never let you down.”
Newhouse, Trump said, “has to go.”
Speaking to the Washington Post this week, Newhouse declined to comment on Trump’s support for his challenger, suggesting only that he expected the former president to do so. Newhouse, however, remains optimistic that he will win the primary.
“I’m going to win,” he said. “I will work as hard as I can.”
Of the 10 House Republicans who voted with Democrats to impeach Trump after a mob of his supporters broke into the Capitol on January 6, only Newhouse and Rep. David Valadeo (R-Calif.) remain in the House . Valadeo faces a tough general election in California’s 22nd District — a district that President Biden won by about 13 points in 2020.
Trump has long sought revenge against Republicans who turned against him in the wake of the Capitol attack.
In 2022, four of the 10 Republicans – then-Reps. Tom Rice (SC), Jaime Herrera Beutler (Wash.), Liz Cheney (Wyo.) and Peter Meijer (Mich.) – lost their primary races to right-wing challengers.
Four more – then representatives. Fred Upton (R-Mich.), John Katko (NY), Anthony Gonzalez (Ohio) and Adam Kinzinger (Illinois) – have chosen to retire. Only Newhouse and Valadao were able to keep their place.
Upton — who did not seek re-election in 2022 after his Michigan district was redrawn in a way that likely would have ousted him from the general election — told The Washington Post on Wednesday that he was sure the Trump’s decision to support Newhouse’s challenger was “more revenge.” .”
Upton said “everyone had their own reason for voting the way they did” regarding Trump’s impeachment charges.
“Some were worried about their own safety. Some said, ‘You know, this is what my district would want’ contrary to perhaps what I’ve seen firsthand,” he said. “And frankly, some were just afraid of this bully. »
Newhouse’s district, Washington’s 4th, is a solidly red seat. The congressman has easily been re-elected there by wide margins since 2014, most recently in 2022, when he beat his Democratic opponent by 35 points. Trump won the district by 19 points in 2020. These numbers likely make the primary election a de facto general election.
In his support of Sessler, Trump called Newhouse a “weak, pathetic RINO” — short for “Republican in Name Only.”
This isn’t the first time Sessler, a Navy veteran and businessman, has challenged Newhouse. In 2022, Sessler and five other Republicans attempted to unseat Newhouse, a farmer, but Newhouse triumphed. This time, however, Sessler is the only candidate to challenge Newhouse in the GOP primary.
In a post shared on X after Trump’s endorsement, Sessler said: “#Honored.” Online, Sessler often shares posts from some of the most right-wing members of Congress and touts his credentials as a political firebrand.
In an interview with The Washington Post last month, Newhouse said that even though many of his fellow moderate Republicans in the House are leaving Congress — citing their conference’s inability to collaborate and reach successful legislative deals — he still pending business in the House, and he will not be discouraged by the most extreme wing of his party.
“I still have certain things I want to accomplish, certain questions that are important to me. It’s a difficult environment, but it’s always difficult, it’s never easy to get legislation passed,” he said. “One of my highest priorities is to make positive changes to our farm labor laws, and we have made progress. I don’t want to leave until this is done.
Upton expressed optimism about his former colleague’s chances and said he thought Newhouse was the type of lawmaker who should stay in Congress.
“He has an unblemished record. He is honest because the day is long. That’s the kind of person voters should want in a leadership position like a member of Congress,” Upton said. “He can sell this at home. But it’s probably going to be a tough few months. And that raises questions on a personal level: is it worth it?
Paul Kane contributed to this report.
washingtonpost
