Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-WA) will not seek reelection in 2026 after a decade of serving in the House of Representatives, the congressman announced on Wednesday.
Newhouse, one of the two remaining House Republicans who voted to impeach President Donald Trump during his first term, said his decision to retire comes with “no reservations or remorse, only gratitude for the tremendous opportunity to have represented my home state in Congress.”
He added that after 25 years of public service, including the 10 spent on Capitol Hill, he is confident central Washington will have a “strong, capable leader to whom I can pass the torch.”
The Washington congressman is the latest to join an influx of retirements from the House from both parties. On the Republican side, it is mostly those in solid red districts or those likely to stay in the GOP’s hands. Democrats are largely seeing an exodus of older members as their progressive base continues to call for new blood in Congress.
With Newhouse’s exit, the only remaining House Republican who voted to impeach Trump over the Jan. 6, 2021, riots at the Capitol will be Rep. David Valadao (R-CA), who could face an even more competitive reelection in 2026 due to California’s redistricting attempts. On the Senate side, only three senators — Susan Collins (R-ME), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), and Bill Cassidy (R-LA) — remain who voted to convict the president.
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Newhouse survived a competitive election last year, defeating two Trump-endorsed candidates: Tiffany Smiley in the primary and Jerrod Sessler in the general election.
Trump had attempted to unseat Newhouse in the 2022 midterm elections with Sessler, but Sessler was unsuccessful. The president has called Newhouse a “weak and pathetic RINO,” or “Republican in name only,” in the past.
