Have Central WA Democrats already chosen their pick to challenge Rep. Newhouse?
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Central Washington Democrats coalesce around John Duresky to challenge Newhouse.
- Party leaders endorse the West Richland vet to avoid vote-splitting that aided Newhouse.
- Democrats in Benton and Grant counties have endorsed Duresky, a retired Hanford worker.
With filing week more than six months out, Central Washington Democrats are coalescing their support around a West Richland veteran for Congress.
The hope is to oust Rep. Dan Newhouse from office during the 2026 midterm elections at a time when progressives are increasingly frustrated with the congressman’s support of Trump administration policies.
The party also is hoping to avoid a fumble in the primary.
That happened last year, when three Democrats split the progressive vote and allowed Newhouse to advance to the general election alongside Trump-endorsed challenger Jerrod Sessler. In Washington’s primary, the two candidates who receive the most votes advance to the general.
Some in the Democrat Party believe John Duresky, a first-time candidate, is the man for the job. He declared in April his intent to run and has since spent time meeting at local county party meetings to boost his grassroots support.
He’s also earned the endorsement of two of the congressional district’s seven county parties.
In recent days, both the Benton County Democrats and Grant County Democrats said they would back the retired Hanford site worker’s candidacy in the midterms. The two parties also were early to endorse Doug White, the Yakima businessman who challenged Newhouse four years ago. They backed him in late 2021.
Misty Muchlinski, chair of the Benton County Democrats, who herself challenged Newhouse last year, could not be reached last week on the issue.
Democrats have about one-third support from voters in Washington’s 4th Congressional District. Newhouse — who serves on House committees on appropriations, agriculture and Chinese competition — has represented the state’s most conservative district for a decade now.
His toughest contests are frequently against fellow Republicans, not Democrats. Trump has endorsed challengers to Newhouse three times since he voted to impeach the president following the Jan. 6 capital riots.
Doug McKinley, a Tri-Cities attorney who ran twice for the seat as a Democrat, says the clock is against any quality candidates who want to jump into the race. The longer a candidate waits to get involved, he argues, the more they appear to be a spoiler against Democrats in the primary.
“This is politics,” he said. “The Democratic Party has an interest in consolidating the field and not splitting their own votes.”
McKinley believes Duresky is the Democrat to back this cycle. He hasn’t heard of any other party members planning to run.
But late surprises happen. Last year, Tiffany Smiley shocked the state when she announced a last-minute run against Newhouse over his support of President Trump.
And it’s possible another candidate will throw their name into the contest after the New Year’s holiday. Data reported to the Federal Election Commission shows just three candidates fundraising for the upcoming midterms so far: Duresky, Newhouse and Sessler.
Newhouse’s campaign confirmed to the Herald that he will be running for a seventh term next year. And Sessler, who has been steadily gathering conservative support the last two cycles, is planning his third run.
Duresky, 57, a former U.S. Air Force veteran, is new to the political scene. He was pushed into early retirement by Elon Musk’s DOGE cuts after having worked four years at Hanford. He’s running on a platform to eliminate trade tariffs, restore Medicaid funding and push back against Trump’s “illegal” deportations.
Another candidate, Devin Poore, an independent from East Wenatchee focused on anti-corruption, has expressed his intent to run next year but has not filed paperwork with the FEC.
Filing week for the 2026 midterms is May 4-8.
This story was originally published December 8, 2025 at 12:56 PM.
