Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.), whose 4th congressional district includes the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site, is the evident winner of an open primary, despite being one of 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach then-President Donald Trump following the Jan. 6 capitol insurrection.
But Newhouse’s fellow House Appropriations Committee member in a neighboring district, who also voted to impeach, fell victim to GOP backlash.
Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-Wash.), Tuesday conceded her loss in Washington’s 3rd Congressional district primary on Aug. 2.
“I’m proud that I always told the truth, stuck to my principles, and did what I knew to be best for our country,” Herrera Beutler said in a Tuesday statement, according to the Associated Press and other reports in major media outlets.
As of Wednesday evening, results from the Washington secretary of state’s office showed Herrera Beutler as the No. 3 vote getter among nine candidates in the primary. Democrat Marie Gluesenkamp Perez is the top finisher with 31%, followed by Trump-backed Republican Joe Kent with 22.8% of the vote, which placed him 1,050 votes ahead of Herrera Beutler with 22.3%.
Only the top two finishers advance to the November general election. Herrera Beutler has been in Congress since January 2011 and as a member of the House Appropriations Committee often took an interest in cleanup of the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site.
Kent served in the U.S. Army for 20 years and also worked in the Central Intelligence Agency, according to his biography. Perez is a business owner with her husband of an automotive repair shop.
Herrera Beutler’s colleague in the neighboring 4th district, Newhouse, is advancing to the Nov. 8 general election despite his vote to impeach Trump. The 4th district encompasses the Hanford Site.
Election returns Wednesday evening show Newhouse with 25.5% of the vote, about 400 votes ahead of Democrat Doug White with 25.2% of the vote as well as Trump-backed Republican Loren Culp with 21.5% of the vote. There were eight candidates in the open primary vying to be among the two advancing to the general election.
The New York Times and other news outlets previously reported Newhouse as the winner of the race. Even if the Democrat White should ultimately prevail in any primary recount, the November contest is already set between him and Newhouse. Culp is more than 5,400 votes behind the two leaders.
White is in the information technology business, Newhouse has served in congress since January 2015.
