Trump shakes up central WA House race, endorsing both Tiffany Smiley and Jerrod Sessler
Donald Trump shook up an already-unsettled race for the state’s 4th Congressional District on Saturday, endorsing a second Republican vying to unseat Rep. Dan Newhouse, whose vote to impeach Trump for his role in the 2021 Capitol riot made him one of the prime targets of the former president’s revenge campaign.
Trump’s endorsement of Tiffany Smiley came just three days before ballots are due on Tuesday, but at a time when fewer than 16% of ballots had been received, according to the Washington Secretary of State’s Office. In posts on his social media platform Truth Social, the GOP’s nominee for president and de facto leader reiterated his support for Jerrod Sessler, whom Trump endorsed in April.
“Tiffany Smiley is a tremendous America First Candidate running to represent the Great People of Washington’s 4th Congressional District!” Trump wrote. “Likewise, Jerrod Sessler, who I have Endorsed in the past, would be fantastic, fighting for the same things that Tiffany, and I, want for our Country.”
In an interview, Smiley said the endorsement made it clear that Trump wants “anyone but Newhouse” and doesn’t want to work with the five-term GOP congressman, who was the only House Republican to survive a Trump-backed primary challenge in 2022 after voting for impeachment days after Trump supporters stormed the Capitol.
“It’s amazing to have President Trump’s endorsement in support of my race,” Smiley said. “He was the best president in my lifetime, who actually built up our economy, expanded the American Dream for all Americans and brought peace to the Middle East, so this is just a huge boost.”
It isn’t the first time Trump has endorsed more than one candidate in a race. A week earlier, he endorsed all three Republicans running for governor in Missouri and two GOP rivals in a House primary in Arizona. It marks a departure from 2022, when Sessler and other Republicans sought Trump’s endorsement before it went to Loren Culp, a former gubernatorial candidate who placed third in the 2022 primary.
In an interview, Sessler claimed to be the only candidate in the race who is personally endorsed by Trump. Both Sessler and Smiley have touted internal surveys, but there has been no public polling on the race.
“They were trying to protect Trump from a media storm, should I get knocked out in the primary,” Sessler said. “It’s 100% media related, because they don’t want the media to be able to say, ‘Trump’s guy didn’t make it through the primary in this race.’ And so from their perspective, it’s low risk for them to just endorse both of us.”
Sessler said he had been in touch with Trump’s team for a week before the endorsement, making the case that the former president shouldn’t make a second endorsement in the race.
In contrast to Smiley – who claimed on Friday to have raised nearly $1.4 million, twice what she had reported to the Federal Election Commission as of July 17 – Sessler has run a relatively low-budget campaign driven by volunteers and appearances across the district since he came up short with about 12% of votes in the 2022 primary.
“I’ve killed myself here – 60 events in the last 30 days – and going out and actually meeting thousands of real people,” Sessler said, adding that his own internal poll shows he and Newhouse will advance through the top-two primary, with Smiley “a distant third.”
In response to questions about the dual endorsement, the Trump campaign’s national press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said in an email, “The President’s endorsements speak for themselves.”
At the annual Hop Festival Parade in Moxee on Saturday, Sessler waved to onlookers from atop a white Corvette, followed by a box truck emblazoned with his campaign logo and the words “TRUMP ENDORSED.”
Farther back in the procession, directly behind a truck promoting Trump-aligned GOP gubernatorial candidate Semi Bird, Newhouse rode a white Jeep. As the five-term congressman and hop farmer from nearby Sunnyside waved to the crowd, a man jeered at him from the roadside.
Wearing a shirt adorned with the words “heroes never die” and Trump’s bloodied face – an image captured moments after the former president narrowly survived an assassination attempt in July – Terry Gravesen of Moxee approached Newhouse and asked if he was the one who had voted to impeach Trump. When Newhouse said yes and extended his hand to offer a handshake, Gravesen swatted it away.
“I told him he’s a piece of shit,” Gravesen said moments later. “He’s a traitor. It ain’t right, and everybody feels the same way.”
Between more profanities, Gravesen said he had voted but wasn’t sure if he had voted for Sessler or Smiley – just not Newhouse.
A few minutes later, another man approached Newhouse as the Jeep rolled slowly past a church. Gene Hazen, a Navy veteran from Moxee, shook the congressman’s hand, then went back to his chair to watch a group of men, women and children on horseback.
“It’s all the negative stuff that irritates me,” said Hazen, who had received an award from Newhouse years earlier for his service in Vietnam. “Give me the facts. That’s what I want.”
Hazen said he hadn’t yet voted and was tired of the constant ads and text messages from the candidates. He found Smiley’s attacks on Sessler – based on a vegan diet Sessler said he began after a battle with cancer decades ago but has since stopped – particularly bizarre.
“I’ll just have to sit down and think about it and do the decision,” he said. “I’ll just be glad when Tuesday’s over with.”