Where Central WA frontrunner stands on tearing down dams, Hanford funding, Iran
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- Amanda McKinney, a Yakima County commissioner, emerges as frontrunner in WA 04 race.
- She has the support of President Trump, Speaker Johnson, others in Congress + Tri-Cities.
- Where she stands on Hanford cleanup, Snake River dams, and Iran War powers resolution.
Amanda McKinney wasn’t daunted — or surprised — when she saw 10 other candidates file to run for Congress in Central Washington.
Frankly, the former mortgage banker would have been concerned if there wasn’t at least some jostling for the seat being vacated by U.S. Rep. Dan Newhouse.
“I actually think it’s a showing that this is the greatest experiment that was ever created, and the only way that works is if it’s built off of elected representation,” she said. “I love to see it. Imagine if only one or two people raised their hands?”
McKinney has an early lead
The Yakima Republican is familiar with the Tri-Cities, but over the last few months has been busy getting the Tri-Cities familiar with her name and resume. When asked if she’ll be a regular around the Tri-Cities this campaign season, she said with an energized disposition: “I am going to be everywhere.”
It’s a bit different this far down the Yakima Valley, but McKinney emphasized in a wide-ranging interview this month that many issues unite Central Washington — and that she is the best and most well-read candidate to solve them.
“Central Washington’s issues are the kitchen table issues for Americans right now, especially in our rural communities,” McKinney said.
“When it comes to my areas of expertise, they are the issues that make up our district,” she added. “No one understands our water issues, who is a candidate, better than me. No one understands our agriculture issues better than me.”
She’s also got the cash, endorsements and conservative clout to prove it.
In first-quarter fundraising, McKinney raised 75 cents of every $1 given to Central Washington candidates. Her $470,000 raised between January and the end of March is a state record for the most raised by a first-time congressional candidate in their first quarter.
It’s been fueled by endorsements from President Donald Trump, House Speaker Mike Johnson, and other congressional leaders who have thrown their weight behind McKinney’s candidacy. She also has the support of Turning Point Action, the nonprofit political action group tied to Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point USA.
But McKinney isn’t the only Republican seeking this seat.
She’ll have to best five other party members in order to win, including Matt Boehnke of Kennewick, Jerrod Sessler of Prosser, Elpidia Saavedra of Toppenish, John Hughs of Lind and Ken Vaz.
In total, 11 candidates are running to replace Newhouse, the Sunnyside Republican and hops farmer who is retiring after serving six terms.
There’s been no public polling conducted in the deep-red district so far, but one confidential survey shows McKinney advancing to the Nov. 3 general election with West Richland’s John Duresky, the sole Democrat in this race.
Where she stands on big issues
McKinney is serving her second term on the three-person Board of Yakima County Commissioners. She most recently won reelection election in 2022, besting a Democrat 69%-to-31%.
During a May pit stop in the Tri-Cities, she touted the recently announced relocation of the FIRA USA agriculture tech conference from California to Yakima, which she characterized as a “huge driver for innovation.”
“I may be Yakima County commissioner, but I have been seeking solutions and understanding the issues because of my work across the basin — specifically on water issues, and fire issues, and energy issues,” she said. “We’re all connected, and again those are issues that are happening not just in Central Washington and Eastern Washington, but all across our rural communities.”
McKinney serves as vice chair of the Rural and Agricultural Affairs Committee with the National Associations of Counties, and sits on its Western Interstate Region Board. She was elected to represent the nation’s counties on the Federal Wildland Fire Leadership Council, and also serves on the Washington State Association of Counties.
The mother of two and business owner prides herself on the way she’s engaged Yakima County residents on the issues that have affected their lives, businesses and pocketbooks.
As commissioner, McKinney says she’s supported law enforcement, the Yakima Basin Integrated Plan, emergency communications and efforts to combat violent crime and fentanyl trafficking.
During her tenure, Yakima County began acquiring senior water rights and established a banking system and conducted floodplain restoration. She says she also fought against tax increases.
During the COVID pandemic, she says she backed efforts to reopen businesses early, opposed vaccine mandates, and “uncovered” millions in fraudulent stimulus claims. McKinney has been a recent, ardent supporter of the Let’s Go Washington initiatives to change Washington’s laws on parental school rights and which athletes can participate in girls sports.
“As county commissioner, I made a commitment to spend as little time in the office as possible, because I believe that if you call me and say that you have an issue, the best thing that I could ever do is to come out and see it, and feel it, and touch it — to understand the impacts,” she said, punctuating her words with her hand on the table.
“If I’m going to make a decision that I am certain is going to impact you, I better really fully understand it. And you cannot do that behind a desk,” McKinney concluded.
If elected, McKinney promises to come back to the district every week — pending any important legislative votes. She would plan to serve 10-12 years.
Columbia River roots
Before she was elected a Yakima County commissioner in 2020, McKinney built a career as a mortgage banker. She’s lived in the Yakima area for about 20 years.
She was raised along the Columbia River, and worked weekends and summers in cherry orchards and on her family’s farm which grew hay, alfalfa, apples and pears. Her father is a retired state trooper.
Speaking to the Herald, McKinney touched on several priorities: Veterans advocacy, services for retired public servants, ensuring Social Security remains “solvent,” and improving rural health care services.
She called Central Washington’s food production and processing a “national security” issue that needs innovation and investment, and said the region’s energy demands are expanding immensely.
The Trump Administration and Congress are negotiating the next funding cycle for the Hanford nuclear site cleanup that could see steep cuts following record-high investments.
Cleanup of the radioactive waste produced by Cold War weapons manufacturing is a backbone of the Tri-Cities economy, yet the U.S. House has proposed about a $455 million cut to the work. Union leaders warn that layoffs could mean workers fleeing the Tri-Cities to other Pacific Northwest cities where jobs are more secure.
McKinney said she’s not privy to those budget discussions, but supports the environmental cleanup broadly.
“What I support wholeheartedly is ways to do things more cost-effective and efficiently,” she said, pointing to vitrification and other advancements that could help cleanup.
“I have cut budgets, and it isn’t because I’m trying to cut productivity. It’s actually because I’m trying to work more efficiently and effectively. I think cutting a budget doesn’t necessarily mean that we should assume that the work isn’t going to happen,” she continued.
On the topic of the lower four Snake River dams, McKinney said Trump was spot on to pull out of a settlement agreement that might have led to the removal of the energy production facilities.
She says there are other projects that have been identified that could have far greater impacts on restoring fish populations than dam removal. The structures already have fish passage and provide the region with crucial flood retention, carbon free power, transportation benefits and irrigation water.
McKinney pointed to the helix project at the Cle Elum Dam, which allows juvenile salmon easier passage through a waterslide, and the Bateman Island causeway removal as projects that benefit both fish and people.
“Clearly, those are two projects that I can say with confidence will have a positive impact, and it didn’t involve taking out a dam that provides so many other benefits,” McKinney said.
On a war powers resolution that would check the Trump administration’s ability to conduct strikes and military operations in Iran, McKinney said she trusts Congress’ judgment to reign in the administration when it finds it appropriate.
Washington’s 4th Congressional District stretches from the U.S.-Canada border down to Oregon. It encompasses the Tri-Cities, Yakima, Yakama Indian Reservation, East Wenatchee, Omak and Goldendale.
It’s also the state’s most conservative-leaning district. In the 2024 presidential election, Trump won the district over former Vice President Kamala Harris by nearly 21 percentage points.
Washington state’s jungle primary will be held Aug. 4. The top-two candidates who receive the most votes will move on to the general.
