Two Republicans who voted to impeach Donald Trump have taken an early lead over the former president’s GOP opponents and are tasked with ousting them from office.
Dan Newhouse in Washington’s fourth district and Jaime Herrera Beutler in Washington’s third district both have a slight lead over the hardline Maga challengers who have won the support of the former president.
With 47 percent of the votes counted, Mr. Newhouse got 27 percent, Democrat Doug White got 26 percent, and Republican Loren Culp — the Trump-backed candidate — got 22 points.
In the third congressional district, with 57 percent of the vote, Ms. Herrera Beutler came in second with 25 percent, behind Democrat Marie Gluesenkamp Perez with 32 percent.
Behind Ms Herrera Beutler is former Green Beret Joe Kent, who has 20 percent support from Mr Trump, while Christian activist and author Heidi St John has 15 percent.
Washington state is one of two places in the country that use an open top-two primaries in which the top two candidates, regardless of their party, will face a general election showdown in November.
While neither race has been called, it appears that both incumbents will advance to the general election and will likely win over their Democratic challengers, said Dave Wasserman, a political analyst for the Cook Political Report.
“Based on initial returns, pro-impeachment Rep. Dan Newhouse is likely to advance in the top two primaries in #WA04. As long as he does, he is safe in November (whether D or R),” he tweeted.
He added: “Based on initial returns, it’s also a strong bet that impeachment Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler will advance in the top two primaries in #WA03. As long as she does, she’s safe in November ( against D or R). Both Newhouse and Herrera Beutler are aided by the divisive opposition that supports Trump.”
Newhouse, 67, and Herrera-Beutler, 43, were among 10 Republicans who voted to impeach Trump in the House.
After leaving office, Mr. Trump vowed to retaliate against the 10 and backed right-wing challengers against them.
One of 10, Congressman Peter Meijer of Michigan, trailed his challenger, John Gibbs, who was backed by Mr. Trump.
Democratic candidate Doug White urges voters to support him in congressional race
In the case of Ms Herrera Beutler, Mr Trump backed Mr Kent, who has been an outspoken challenger in the race for the third, where Ms Herrera Beutler was first elected in 2010 and reelected five times.
When she voted to impeach Trump, Ms Herrera-Beitler said: “The President of the United States has fomented a riot aimed at preventing the peaceful transfer of power from one administration to the next. That riot led to Five people died.”
She added: “I understand the idea that the best thing to do is not to further anger the state or alienate Republican voters. But I am a Republican voter. I believe in our Constitution.”
Mr Trump said in a statement that Ms Herrera Beutler’s impeachment vote was “against the Republican Party” and that Mr Kent, if elected, would be “a warrior for the America First agenda”.
in an interview independent Earlier this year, Mr Kent said: “We feel strong [Trump’s] Still probably the strongest support in American political history. “
Ms. Gluesenkamp Perez has raised only a fraction of what her rivals have raised, and she only entered the competition in April.
Democrat Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, who challenges Jaime Herrera Beutler’s seat in Washington’s 3rd Congressional District, poses for a photo
(Amanda Cowan/Columbia via The Associated Press)
But she said the Supreme Court overturned the decision Roe v. WadeHer campaign sparked interest in the landmark 1973 ruling that gave two generations of women access to safe and legal abortions.
“After Roe’s collapse, there’s been an order of magnitude difference in the number of volunteers going through our site,” she responded at a virtual town hall last month from independent. “People were pissed. They took out their pitchforks for this game.”
She added: “We know that Jamie and Joe will both vote for a federal ban on abortion. Even though we think our rights are safe in Washington state, that’s not the case. They want us to be complacent. No. We’re not going to roll over for that. … These are rights worth fighting for.”
Also in Washington state, incumbent Democratic Senator Patty Murray defeated Republican Tiffany Smiley in the general election.
In the eighth congressional district, incumbent Democratic congresswoman Kim Schreier advanced after receiving more than 49 percent of the vote, but it is unclear who will be her Republican challenger.
