White House weighs in on which Central WA candidate Trump really endorsed
When Central Washington begins voting later this week, some may be confused about who President Donald Trump has endorsed to be U.S. Rep. Dan Newhouse's successor in Congress.
That’s because both Yakima Republican Amanda McKinney and Prosser Republican Jerrod Sessler are touting endorsements this midterm cycle from the MAGA president.
But who really would Trump like to see in the Central Washington seat? The White House says it’s McKinney, but Sessler says he has his own personal endorsement from the president.
Both are vying for the vote of Trump supporters in Washington’s 4th Congressional District in the Aug. 4 jungle primary. Ballots will be mailed out to registered voters by Friday.
McKinney is a well-known name in the upper Yakima Valley, but in order to win she’ll need to chip away at the support Sessler has built over his five years running as a congressional candidate. During the Nov. 5, 2024, general election against Newhouse, Sessler garnered 46% support from voters.
Still, McKinney is the presumptive frontrunner in the race. 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.
The top-two candidates who receive the most votes, regardless of political affiliation, will move on to the general election.
Ballots are due back to drop boxes before 8 p.m. on election day.
Sessler claims Trump endorsement, too
Both candidates say in their voter pamphlet statement that they are endorsed by the president. Their statements are not fact-checked or edited by the Washington Secretary of State’s Office, the agency that runs state and federal elections.
Sessler's statement says he is a “primary election winner with endorsements from Trump,” while McKinney says she is the “only Trump-endorsed candidate” in the race.
Dueling endorsements are not foreign to 4th district voters. In 2024, just days before the primary election, Trump chose to amend his endorsement in that race to include Tiffany Smiley, a Pasco Republican who had jumped into the race at the last minute. He said either candidate would stand for Make America Great Again values.
Still, it’s a bit more clear who Trump is throwing his weight behind this cycle.
Trump gave his “complete and total endorsement” to McKinney in a Jan. 6 post on his Truth Social account, highlighting her bona fides as a “very successful business executive, civic leader, and highly respected Yakima County Commissioner.” He wrote that she has “dedicated her life to serving her community.”
Her campaign has frequently highlighted that support in advertisements and mailers sent to registered voters. In a Monday post, McKinney said she was “humbled and grateful to be the only candidate in this race endorsed by President Donald J. Trump.”
But Sessler, who earned Trump’s “complete and total” endorsement twice in his 2024 failed bid to unseat Newhouse, says he also has the president’s support this year.
His proof is a text message he sent to Trump that he claims was printed out and signed by Trump on Dec. 9, 2024.
In it, the Prosser businessman voices his disappointment that he was not “able to pull off the impossible here in Washington” and his promise to Trump that he would mount another run for Congress. Sessler says Trump’s signature is a de facto endorsement of his 2026 run.
“It is a legitimate endorsement — more legitimate than a social post. This is a personally signed letter by the president,” Sessler told the Herald in a text message.
When asked to provide details about how Trump came to sign and send him the message, Sessler responded that he’s “been working with the president and his staff for years now, and I do not want any of his staff exposed in terms of how this letter was delivered and returned.”
Sessler says he is the only candidate “personally endorsed” by Trump, and that McKinney’s endorsement is from the president’s “staff.”
He also claims McKinney paid $150,000 for Trump’s access and endorsement, pointing to a large donation sent from a pro-McKinney PAC, Washington Rising, to Turning Point Action on Dec. 17. McKinney’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment on Monday.
“The big message is that Trump would never endorse someone knowing they supported impeachment and the impeacher, Dan Newhouse,” he said, referring to a Dan Newhouse for Congress advertisement McKinney appeared in 2024.
What does the White House have to say?
The Tri-City Herald reached out to the White House on Monday for comment about this race.
When asked who President Trump was endorsing in the Central Washington race, a staffer referred to his Jan. 6 Truth Social post and said that the president “has only endorsed McKinney this year.”
Who else is running for Washington’s 4th Congressional District?
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.
This year’s race for the district will be another crowded one for Republicans. Six of the 11 candidates on the primary ballot say they affiliate with the Grand Old Party.
In addition to McKinney and Sessler, those include Matt Boehnke of Kennewick, Elpidia Saavedra of Toppenish, John C. Hughs of Lind and Ken Vaz of Seattle.
There are four candidates running as independents or with third parties: Pasco independent Jacek “Jack” Kobiesa, Yakima independent Favian Valencia, Cascade Party Devin Poore of East Wenatchee and West Richland independent Zac Rossi.
