U.S. Speaker Mike Johnson stumps in Tri-Cities for ‘good conservatives’ at private event

U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson stumped for Dan Newhouse at a private fundraising event Monday, a showing of good grace as the Sunnyside Republican faces a MAGA challenger on the Nov. 5 ballot.

“Thank you, Speaker @MikeJohnson for making it out to the better Washington,” Newhouse said in a post to Twitter/X. “I’m grateful for the support as we work to elect good conservatives up and down the ballot.”

Photos posted by Newhouse showed several people packed in a room decorated boldly in stone and wood with a mounted longhorn steer horn displayed over a television screen. Former Central Washington Congressman Doc Hastings, who endorsed Newhouse as his successor more than a decade ago, also appeared to be in attendance.

Newhouse represents Washington’s 4th Congressional District, which stretches from the U.S.-Canada border down to the Columbia River, and includes the Tri-Cities, Omak, East Wenatchee, Moses Lake, Yakima and the Yakama Indian Reservation.

Johnson’s appearance fundraising for a candidate in a safe-Republican congressional district just two weeks out from election day is a curious decision. Regardless of the results, at least one thing is for sure: Washington’s 4th will remain in Republican control.

That’s because Newhouse, who’s seeking a sixth term, is facing a challenger from the right in Trump-endorsed Jerrod Sessler, a Prosser businessman and former regional circuit race car driver.

Over the last several weeks, Johnson has been busy fundraising for House Republicans all across the U.S. as they attempt to retain party control of the chamber.

In August, for example, Johnson spoke at a Vancouver, Wash., fundraising event for Joe Kent, the Green Beret veteran and Republican who hopes to oust freshman Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Skamania. Polling shows the two candidates are dead even in the race for the Republican-leaning Southwest Washington district.

That race is just one of 27 toss-ups that will decide the makeup of the U.S. House of Representatives in January. Democrats need to gain just four seats to win control of the lower chamber, according to Bloomberg, and Johnson and Republican leaders have been working around the clock to ensure that doesn’t happen.

In Washington’s 4th District, Sessler is challenging Newhouse over his 2021 vote to impeach former President Donald Trump for his role in fomenting the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol. The insurrection resulted in the deaths of five people that day.

Despite his support from MAGA and the Washington State Republican Party, Sessler hasn’t been able to keep up with Newhouse’s fundraising.

According to the most recent FEC filings, between July and September, the Sunnyside farmer took home $452,000 to Sessler’s $63,000.

And the money will continue to roll in. At another private fundraising event planned for Thursday in Richland, Newhouse will host House Majority Leader Steve Scalise from Louisiana.

This story was originally published October 21, 2024 at 7:05 PM.

Eric Rosane

Tri-City Herald

509-380-9121

Eric Rosane is the Tri-City Herald’s Civic Accountability Reporter focused on Education and Local Government. Before coming to the Herald in February 2022, he worked at the Daily Chronicle in Lewis County covering schools, floods, fish, dams and the Legislature. He graduated from Central Washington University in 2018.  Support my work with a digital subscription