Newhouse beating 6 Republicans in primary. Here’s his likely opponent in November

U.S. Rep. Dan Newhouse, a Sunnyside Republican, will face off against Doug White, a Democrat also from Yakima County, if Tuesday’s primary election results hold.

Republicans on the ballot split the vote seven ways, leaving Newhouse with 20,542 votes, or 27%, as he campaigns to retain the seat he has held in Congress since 2015.

White, the only Democrat on the ballot, had 19,534 votes, or 26%.

He was trailed by Loren Culp with 16,352 votes or 22%, in third place.

Culp has not conceded, posting on social media that enough votes remain to be counted that he considers the race “tight.”

Culp went into the primary as the candidate endorsed by former President Trump and also had voter recognition after challenging Jay Inslee two years ago in a failed run for governor.

Jerrod Sessler, who moved from Burien, Wash., to Prosser and challenged Newhouse, was next with 8,214 votes or 11%, and Washington state Rep. Brad Klippert, a deputy sheriff, had 6,434 votes, or 9%.

The others were Corey Gibson with 2,675 votes or 4%; Benancio “Benny” Garcia III with 1,118 votes or 1%; and Jacek Kobiesa, with 248 votes, or less than 1%.

Newhouse was the lead vote-getter in Benton, Franklin and Douglas counties.

But Newhouse’s home county of Yakima, and also Klickitat and Okanogan counties, favored White.

The remaining two counties in the 4th District, Grant and Adams, favored Loren Culp.

The ballot count percentages in the Tri-Cities area, particularly in Benton County, were similar to that of the 4th District as a whole.

Benton, Franklin for Newhouse

In Benton County, Newhouse had 29% of the vote Tuesday night, followed by White with 26% of the vote.

Klippert of Kennewick was making a bid to move to Congress after seven terms in the state Legislature. He won 18% of the vote.

Behind him were Culp with 13% of the vote and Sessler with 10%.

Gibson, Garcia and Kobiesa each had 2% or less of the vote in the Tuesday count.

In Franklin County, Newhouse had 28% of the vote and White had 24%.

In third place was Culp with 17% of the vote, followed by Klippert with 15% and Sessler with 12%.

Newhouse targeted

The GOP field was crowded with candidates who criticized Newhouse’s vote to impeach Trump after the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

At least five of his Republican opponents opposed his Jan. 13, 2021, vote to impeach the former president, a vote he was joined in by just nine other House Republicans.

Six of eight county Republican leaders in his district demanded that he resign after that vote, but he declined and filed for re-election.

Newhouse and White

Newhouse has bolstered his conservative credentials as chairman of the all-Republican Congressional Western Caucus.

He has worked to save the lower Snake River dams, on agriculture and immigration issues, and funding for environmental cleanup of the Hanford nuclear reservation site.

White is a fourth-generation Yakima area farmer with a previous career in international business.

He said Central Washington’s needs related to water, immigration and infrastructure have been ignored by politicians.

“I’ll protect medicare and social security, work with community leaders to develop programs to keep kids away from a path of crime and provide the police the support they need,” White said in the voter pamphlet. “Childcare and protecting our right to privacy are central to our maintaining a strong workforce.”

Update | Latest voting results for Aug. 2, 2022, elections in Benton, Franklin, Walla Walla counties