Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-WA), one of two remaining House Republicans who backed former President Donald Trump’s impeachment, is at risk of losing to a Trump-backed, isolationist Republican in next month’s general election. 

Trump is supporting Jerrod Sessler, a former NASCAR driver and Navy veteran, in a bid for retribution against Newhouse. Sessler is also backed by the House Freedom Caucus and the Washington state Republican party.

Sessler took the largest share of the vote in the August all-party primary, winning 33% of the vote to Newhouse’s 23%. A third GOP candidate, Tiffany Smiley, came in third with 19%. Newhouse’s moderate GOP allies helped boost Sessler, who they viewed as the weaker opponent, in the primary so that Newhouse would face Sessler, rather than the better-known, well-connected and more pragmatic Smiley in the general election. (Smiley was the GOP’s Senate nominee against Sen. Patty Murray in 2022.)

Newhouse is expected to be able to pick up crossover votes from independents and Democrats in a race against Sessler, without a Democrat on the ballot. Yet, the 4th Congressional District, in the central part of the state, remains deep red and Newhouse is likely to face a tough race.

Newhouse has significantly outraised Sessler — $1.6 million to $413,000 as of mid-July. Sessler has self-funded to the tune of $350,000. Newhouse has also benefited from hundreds of thousands in independent expenditures.

Newhouse has been a consistent supporter of Israel, as well as Ukraine, and generally takes a traditional conservative approach to U.S. foreign policy. He’s been endorsed by AIPAC.

Sessler is a vocal skeptic of U.S. foreign engagement, including appearing hesitant about U.S. aid to Israel in its current form. Asked in a local news interview about efforts to condition U.S. aid to Israel, Sessler didn’t address the issue of conditions but said, “Congressional leaders should be focus[ed] on protecting Americans first.”

“They should work from the agreement that we will only spend the money that we have and no more,” Sessler said. “When we do provide foreign aid, it should be collateralized.”

Sessler’s campaign also has an account on Gab, the far-right social media platform popular with antisemites and white supremacists, linked on his campaign website. The campaign’s Gab posts are not publicly accessible.

Invoking former President George Washington, Sessler argued in a campaign video that the U.S. should avoid permanent alliances, which he said have “dragged us into unnecessary wars and conflicts and bilked us out of trillions of dollars,” while U.S. partners don’t “keep their end of the bargain.”

He said he would support “all legislation that would allow us to get out of foreign entanglements.”

In another video, Sessler called for the U.S. to withdraw from NATO and “refuse to involve ourselves in the pointless endless wars that the despotic elite globalists are pushing for in order to undermine American sovereignty.”

At the same time, he said that the U.S. must approach foreign policy from a “position of strength.”

Sessler also said the U.S. military should not become involved in conflicts that “do not concern us” or which could “have an effect on the U.S. interests or sovereignty.” He said the military “may offer aid and assistance in training” but should not fight other countries’ wars for them.

Nevertheless, Sessler has offered support for the Jewish state at numerous points both during and before his campaign.

“Do you still (wrongfully) believe Israel should backdown?” Sessler posted on X, formerly Twitter, following an Israeli operation in June that rescued four hostages. He also expressed support for Israeli operations in Rafah and, before his campaign, indicated that he supported Iron Dome funding.

Sessler has stridently argued that a two-state solution is impossible and said that the Palestinians should leave Gaza and move elsewhere.

“They can go to Iran or Egypt or Jordan or any other country and beg for a chunk of land that they do not deserve and see if they can get it,” Sessler said. “They ruined the Gaza Strip and there is no reason that Israel should feel a single need to continue to cater to the 2-state solution that is now dead.”

Sessler also attended Trump’s Jan. 6, 2021, rally in Washington, D.C., before the attack on the U.S. Capitol, which Sessler has claimed was an FBI set-up.

Sessler’s campaign did not respond to an email requesting an interview with the candidate.

Randy Pepple, a GOP strategist in Washington, said he’s expecting Newhouse to pull out a victory.

“He has served the district with distinction and been a solid conservative voice for people of Central Washington since he was elected and long before that, when he was in the Statehouse,” Pepple said. “However, one cannot underestimate what turnout could become in a presidential year in Washington state, and whether that will bring out folks that are still mad about the impeachment vote of 2021.”

He said that Newhouse has been elected in similar circumstances before, predicting that Newhouse and Sessler will ultimately split the Republican vote but Democrats and independents — about 40% of the district — will vote for Newhouse and give him enough of a boost to win. 

“Congressman Newhouse has been in this position before, where he was behind after the primary, but once voters had a binary choice, he was the easy choice to make,” Pepple said.

He said that the district knows Newhouse well and, beyond partisan politics, he has been a “strong advocate” for the district’s interests on the House agriculture and energy committees. 

There is not, Pepple added, a “MAGA majority” in the district, and Sessler has not appeared to do much to attract voters outside of the core pro-Trump demographic. He noted that Sessler had backed out of a recent debate after demanding that a write-in candidate be allowed to speak, which Pepple described as a sign that Sessler is not confident in his chances.