Republican candidate Tiffany Smiley, who raised more than $20 million in her 2022 challenge to U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, announced Monday her candidacy to unseat U.S. Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Central Washington.
in Monday’s announcement videoSmiley did not mention Newhouse directly, but spoke of the “swamp” in Washington, D.C., and “great accomplishments from a career politician” as the United States faces challenges such as the border crisis and homelessness.
Newhouse, R-Sunnyside, voted to impeach Donald Trump over the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol two years ago and won reelection by a narrow margin. He is facing Republican challenger Jerrod Sessler, a Trump-supporting businessman. .6 primary.
In endorsing Sessler last month, President Trump called Newhouse “weak and pathetic” and said she “must resign.”
Newhouse, a former state representative and third-generation Yakima Valley farmer, formally filed for re-election to a sixth term in the state’s 4th Congressional District on Monday.
Smiley, a retired nurse from Pasco, used her own experience fighting government bureaucracy to help her husband, Scotty, who was permanently blinded in a 2005 suicide car bombing while on the job, as well as when she ran for Senate. I emphasized this in my presentation. Iraqi army.
Smiley said he has been working on government change as an outsider for 20 years. “It is now clear to me that the best way to continue my work and make a difference for Washington families is within Congress,” she said.
In an interview with the conservative publication National Review, Smiley criticized Newhouse for voting to impeach Trump. “It’s not a representative vote for the voters of the 4th District,” she said.
Mr. Newhouse defended his background as a fiscal conservative and went after Mr. Smiley in a statement released by his campaign on Monday.
“At a time when dams are under attack, the border is in crisis, and workers can’t afford gas and groceries, it’s hard for Central Washington to relinquish its influence in Congress or hand over the keys to the federal budget to anyone in power. “This is not the time to cede control to someone who has no control over their own campaign finances,” he said.
This is a reference to Mr. Smiley’s 2022 Senate campaign, which ended with him leaving $1 million in unpaid debts to political consultants.
Smiley’s announcement was the first big news story in Washington as candidate filing week begins.
To appear on the Aug. 6 primary ballot, candidates must submit their nominations to the Secretary of State’s Office by the end of the week. The submission period begins Monday morning and runs until Friday at 5 p.m.
A continuously updated list of submitted candidates is available on the Secretary of State’s website.
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