U.S. House race heats up as Democrats challenge Newhouse, Didier

Two Democrats and a third Republican have joined the race for the U.S. House seat held by Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Sunnyside.

Doug McKinley, a Richland attorney, and John Malan, a Pasco resident, filed to run as Democrats on Friday, the last day to file to run for federal, state and local offices in Washington.

They join Newhouse, a freshman seeking re-election, and Clint Didier, an Eltopia farmer, two-time Super Bowl champion and Republican. Glen Jakeman, a Yakima Republican and former federal employee, filed as a Republican.

The field of five includes three political veterans and two newcomers. Newhouse is the incumbent and Didier has previously run for office, as has McKinley.

Malan did not respond to questions and Jakeman is a political newcomer who said his focus in Washington, D.C., would be mandatory drug testing for police officers.

On the Republican side, the race to represent Washington’s 4th Congressional District offers a rematch between two candidates who fought a fierce and costly battle in 2014. Newhouse defeated Didier with a little less than 51 percent of the vote, the narrowest margin of any of the 10 Washington House races.

Between them, Newhouse and Didier spent almost $1.6 million — $1 million for Newhouse and $600,000 for Didier, according to the Federal Elections Commission.

Since taking office in January 2015, Newhouse has raised nearly $625,000. He had $285,000 available at the end of March. Didier raised no money in the same period.

The Democratic side features a veteran candidate in McKinley and a previously unknown candidate who registered as “John (the man) Malan.”

The next federal campaign reporting deadline is not until July 15. McKinley plans to raise money to support campaigns on both social and traditional media.

The top two finishers in Washington’s Aug. 2 open primary will advance to the Nov. 8 general election.

Didier told the Tri-City Herald he decided to seek a rematch when Newhouse remained the only candidate in the race Wednesday evening.

“I was not going to let him go unopposed,” he said.

Born and raised in Franklin County, Didier played in the NFL for nine years. He raises alfalfa on a 1,100-acre farm operated with three of his four grown children. As in 2014, he is running as a limited government advocate who says less, not more, regulations will improve the economy and the environment.

He favors dismantling the federal Department of Education and blasted Congress for the Omnibus bill funding Planned Parenthood, Sanctuary Cities and a program that purchases land for water control. He accused state and federal agencies of paying above-market prices for farmland, driving up property values and taxes.

“We need to get this massive, glutting government back under control,” he said.

Didier wants Congress to use its power over the federal budget to limit the power of the other branches, chiefly the executive branch.

“We need principled people to go back there and stand with the Constitution, our Bill of Rights, and empower people to prosper and thrive. Then we can pay our taxes and like Donald Trump says, ‘We can make America great again,’” he said.

Newhouse’s campaign issued a statement saying Didier has “every right” to run for office.

“Newhouse has been working hard in office and on the campaign trail to earn the support of voters,” it said.

Jakeman is a longtime Yakima resident and electrician for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. He said he’s disturbed by the current state of politics and by the president’s Monday directive to public schools to accommodate transgender students in school.

His primary focus would be policing law enforcement through regular drug testing.

McKinley moved to the Tri-Cities in 1991 for a job as a lawyer at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, rising to senior intellectual property counsel. He joined a spinoff and now practices criminal and IP law and teaches legal courses at Washington State University Tri-Cities.

A longtime Democrat, he unsuccessfully challenged Richland Republican Sharon Brown for the Washington Senate in 2014.

McKinley said he is an “economic populist” and supports raising the minimum wage to $15, immigration reform, tackling student debt and fixing rather than eliminating the Affordable Care Act.

McKinley said the higher minimum wage will give low-wage workers power to buy homes, make purchases and participate in a consumer-driven economy and will reduce dependence on public assistance programs.

“There’s never been a start-up that says our target market is minimum wage employees, except maybe payday loans,” he said.

He favors immigration reform that keeps Central Washington families intact. A call by the presumed Republican presidential nominee to deport 11 million undocumented workers would touch tens of thousands of local workers, to the detriment of local agriculture.

McKinley recalled a student whose father faced deportation a year ago. With his own two sons in college, her plight touched him.

“I know if I were deported right now while they are trying to make it through college, that would be a severe hardship on them,” he said.

This story was originally published May 20, 2016 at 4:16 PM with the headline "U.S. House race heats up as Democrats challenge Newhouse, Didier."