Newhouse faces challenge from former Senate candidate

Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash)., who represents the area around the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site, in the House of Representatives, is getting a new challenger, a former GOP Senate candidate, Tiffany Smiley.

Smiley, who ran an unsuccessful race against incumbent Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) in November 2022, announced Monday she will challenge fellow Republican Newhouse for his seat. She made her announcement in a Facebook video post, targeting “career politicians” and saying it was time to change the government from the inside.

Smiley did not mention Newhouse by name but said she was running to serve the fourth congressional district. Smiley, from Pasco, Wash., is a former nurse whose husband was injured while on Army duty in Iraq, the Seattle Times reported Monday. The newspaper reported that Smiley raised more than $20 million in her 2022 Senate run.

Newhouse, who voted to impeach President Donald Trump following the January 2021 riot at the Capitol, is already facing a GOP challenger in Jerrod Sessler, a former NASCAR racer and U.S. Navy veteran. Trump has endorsed Sessler.

Newhouse is a member of the House Appropriations Committee. A non-partisan open primary is scheduled for Aug. 6.

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