Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash), whose 4th Congressional district in Washington state includes the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site, is facing multiple fellow Republicans, one of them a former NASCAR driver and another backed by former President Donald Trump, in an August primary, according to Ballotpedia.org.
Jerrod Sessler is the best-funded of the four Republican challengers and one Democrat who filed the necessary paperwork by May 20 to run in the Aug. 2 open primary and have raised campaign contributions, according to Ballotpedia. The former stock car driver is also a Navy veteran and cancer survivor, according to his campaign website.
“Jerrod made the choice to refuse all conventional medical treatment, turning to his faith in God, the prayers of his loving wife and family, and adopting a natural diet primarily consisting of the nutrient-rich produce of the exceptional Washington soil,” Sessler’s website says.
Sessler had raised more than $456,000 as of March 31.The incumbent Newhouse had raised $1.2 million, Democrat Doug White, a digital marketing professional, $231,000. Meanwhile, Loren Culp, a former police chief endorsed by Trump has taken in $191,000.
The district’s primary is an open one. The top two vote-getters will square off in the general election in November, regardless of party affiliation.
A former state lawmaker and agriculture commissioner first elected to Congress in November 2014 by edging another Republican by less than one percentage point, Newhouse has won upwards of 60% of the general election vote since then.
The incumbent, who serves on the House Appropriations Committee, was one of the few House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump in the aftermath of the Jan. 6, 2021 riot in the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., during which a mob of Trump supporters broke into and vandalized lawmakers offices, the halls of Congress and the Senate chamber.
The vote angered some GOP officials in the district, the Associated Press reported.
