Incumbent Newhouse Faces Strong Challenge In Washington’s 4th Congressional District Race‌

Incumbent Dan Newhouse (R) and Jerrod Sessler (R) are running in the general election for Washington’s 4th Congressional District on November 5, 2024.

Sessler ran against Newhouse in 2022 but did not advance to the general election. Cascade PBS’s Mai Hoang wrote, “This time [Sessler] gained considerable momentum with numerous endorsements, including from the Washington State Republican Party, several county Republican parties, the House Freedom Caucus, … and Trump himself.” For Newhouse, National Republican Congressional Committee representative Ben Peterson said their policy is to support incumbents in races between two Republicans. Newhouse is one of two remaining Republicans in Congress who voted to impeach former President Donald Trump (R).

Newhouse was first elected to Congress in 2014. He earned a bachelor’s degree in agricultural economics from Washington State University. He was a state representative from 2003 to 2009 and the Washington Director of Agriculture from 2009 to 2013. Newhouse and his family operate an 850-acre farm in Sunnyside, Washington.

Newhouse called agriculture “a huge part of [his] priorities.” Newhouse also said he supports border security and views the issue as linked with agriculture. He co-sponsored the Farm Workforce Modernization Act, which he called “a great step in relieving the pressure on the border and taking away the incentive for people to come into this country illegally.” He highlighted his work in Congress to investigate China’s role in producing the raw materials used to make fentanyl and said, “The Communist Chinese party is incentivizing, encouraging, and empowering companies in China to send these products to the Mexican cartels in particular. This is leading directly to the increased trafficking of fentanyl across our border and into communities across the country, including right here in Central Washington.”

Sessler joined the U.S. Navy from high school and later earned a bachelor’s degree in engineering from Kennedy Western University. He was a NASCAR driver from 1999 to 2006 and, in 2004, founded HomeTask, a home maintenance company. He owns a ranch with his wife and family.

Sessler called himself “the conservative we deserve” and said Newhouse “betrayed our trust.” Sessler criticized Newshouse’s vote to impeach Trump and said, “Unlike my opponent Dan Newhouse, who joined Democrats to impeach President Trump, I’ll be a strong ally for the MAGA agenda.” Sessler said his main priority in Congress would be eliminating corruption. He also said he would aim to protect economically crucial pieces of infrastructure with a Critical Infrastructure Act, which he said “would identify, for example, a power generating dam, its environment around it, and it would provide protection to it,” similar to the protection of endangered species. Sessler criticized the Biden administration’s approach to the U.S.-Mexico border and said, “I support deporting the invaders.”

All 435 U.S. House seats are up for election in 2024. Republicans have a 220 to 211 majority with four vacancies. As of June 2024, 45 members of the U.S. House had announced they were not running for re-election. To read more about the U.S. House elections taking place this year, click here.

In the 2022 election in this district, the Republican candidate won 66.5%-31.2%. Daily Kos calculated what the results of the 2020 presidential election in this district would have been following redistricting. Donald Trump (R) would have defeated Joe Biden (D) 57.2%-40.3%.

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