KENNEWICK, Wash. (AP) - A conservative state representative from the Tri-Cities has filed to challenge Republican U.S. Rep. Dan Newhouse in next year’s primary, after Newhouse was one of 10 members of the House GOP who voted to impeach former President Donald Trump.
Republican State Rep. Brad Klippert announced Tuesday that he will seek to oust Newhouse.
“I believe in the Greatness of the United States of America, and the Greatness of our Constitution!,” Klippert said in a written statement released through the Benton County Republican Party.
Many Republican organizations in the central Washington district demanded that Newhouse resign after the impeachment vote. Newhouse, first elected in 2014, refused.
Klippert is a conservative firebrand who has introduced numerous bills to end the COVID-19 lockdowns, and curb the powers of governors to impose them. His written statement did not mention Newhouse.
He is a deputy in the Benton County Sheriff’s Office and has been a member of the state House for 12 years.
Newhouse, 65, was reelected with 66% of the vote in November. The district has a large agricultural base and runs from Canada to the Oregon state line. Trump won it with nearly 58% of the vote in the November election - his highest support in any Washington congressional district.
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