Rep. Dan Newhouse of Washington, who has beaten challengers backed by Donald Trump in the past two election cycles, is the latest House Republican to announce his retirement.
Newhouse said in a statement Wednesday that he had “no reservations or remorse” as he ends his tenure representing central Washington’s deep-red 4th District, which includes Yakima.
“As I look forward to this new chapter and ways I can continue to serve my community and this great Nation, I do so with confidence that there are now qualified and serious people expressing interest in this office,” he said.
Newhouse drew Trump’s wrath after he voted to impeach the president after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, one of just 10 House Republicans to do so. Of the 10, Newhouse and Rep. David Valadao of California are the only ones still serving in the House.
“A vote against this impeachment is a vote to validate the unacceptable violence we witnessed in our nation’s capital,” Newhouse said at the time. “It is also a vote to condone the president’s inaction.”
In 2022, Trump endorsed Republican Loren Culp in a primary challenge to Newhouse. But Culp finished third in the state’s all-party primary, behind Newhouse and a Democratic candidate. Under Washington’s primary system, all candidates run on the same ballot, with the top two vote-getters advancing to the general election.
Two years later, Trump endorsed Navy veteran Jerrod Sessler and nurse Tiffany Smiley, the 2022 Republican Senate nominee. Newhouse finished second to Sessler in the primary but defeated him in the general election, 52 percent to 46 percent, likely buoyed by support from the district’s Democratic voters.
Sessler, a former NASCAR driver, is making a third attempt at the seat this cycle.
A third-generation farmer and former state agriculture leader, Newhouse serves on the Appropriations and Agriculture committees, as well as the select committee on China.
On Appropriations, he’s a member of the subcommittees that oversee the Agriculture Department’s budget and the Homeland Security Department’s budget. His third subcommittee assignment is also particularly important to his largely rural district: Energy-Water.
Newhouse has lived less than 50 miles from the Energy Department’s Hanford Site, the production location of the plutonium for the “Fat Man” bomb that the United States dropped on Nagasaki during World War II. Hanford is the largest Energy Department cleanup site in the country.
His political career began when he became active in the state’s hop growers association and then the county and state farm bureau. In 2002, he successfully ran for a vacant seat in the Washington House. He served in the state legislature until 2009 when he was chosen as state agriculture director by Democratic Gov. Christine Gregoire, who pointed to his wealth of practical experience as a farmer. His family farm in Sunnyside, Wash., grows hops, cherries and other crops.
After Democrat Jay Inslee became governor in 2013, Newhouse was replaced by a different agriculture director. The following year, Newhouse ran to succeed veteran Republican Rep. Doc Hastings, who was retiring after 10 terms. Newhouse narrowly defeated former professional football player Clint Didier in an all-Republican general election.
House departures
With Newhouse’s decision, there are now 25 House Republicans who won’t be seeking reelection next year, including Georgia’s Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Trump ally-turned-adversary who is expected to resign Jan. 5.
The wave of departures won’t necessarily shift the House landscape, as many of the retreating members hail from deep-red districts and will be succeeded by fellow Republicans. But Democrats need a net gain of just three seats to flip the chamber, and the party has been encouraged by a string of electoral successes this year.
House Republicans leaving behind competitive seats include retiring Nebraska Rep. Don Bacon; Michigan’s John James and Arizona’s David Schweikert, who are running for governor; and Iowa Rep. Ashley Hinson, who is running for Senate.
Other gubernatorial hopefuls include Reps. Andy Biggs of Arizona, Byron Donalds of Florida, John W. Rose of Tennessee, Randy Feenstra of Iowa, Elise Stefanik of New York, Tom Tiffany of Wisconsin, Nancy Mace and Ralph Norman of South Carolina, and Dusty Johnson of South Dakota.
House Republicans eyeing moves to the other side of the Capitol include Reps. Andy Barr of Kentucky and Barry Moore of Alabama, who are seeking open Senate seats. Georgia Reps. Earl L. “Buddy” Carter and Mike Collins are challenging Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff, and Texas Rep. Wesley Hunt has launched a primary challenge against Sen. John Cornyn.
On the Democratic side, 19 lawmakers are departing the House, including several who are running for other offices. Among the more prominent Democratic retirees is former Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
While Newhouse is the lone member from Washington state to announce his impending departure, some House delegations will experience a greater exodus. Texas, for instance, which has 38 seats in the House, is losing six Republican incumbents and three Democrats.
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