Tiffany Smiley (photo, left) tried to unseat Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-WA) in the August 2024 primary, but she came in third, meaning she’s eliminated.
Newhouse will face Jerrod Sessler in November. Trump endorsed Sessler and Smiley. He has a grudge against Newhouse, who voted to impeach him for the Jan. 6 insurrection.
The 4 Democrats and 1 independent in the primary got 25.16% of the total vote, and if they vote for Newhouse in November, he needs only a third of the Republican votes to win.
Based on the 2022 results and his 2024 fundraising, he still has a Republican base despite his impeachment vote, so that seems possible. His district includes Tri-Cities, where a lot of Hanford professionals live. They may vote Republican, but they’re less likely to be MAGA voters. They may prefer Newhouse over a Trump acolyte like Sessler.
As for the district’s Democratic voters, they have nowhere to go except Newhouse or a MAGA Trumper, as there’s no Democrat on the November ballot.
Newhouse appears to know what he’s doing. By voting to impeach Trump, he made himself acceptable to the district’s Democratic voters, while still able to retain enough of Republican votes to stitch together a majority.
As for Tiffany Smiley, she once again tilted at windmills, and slew no dragons. She may not know where the dragons are, so I’ve posted a map below to help her find them.
