WA Rep. Newhouse draws 1st GOP challenger for 2024. ‘This time, it’s not a long shot.’

A Prosser businessman says he will try yet again next year to unseat Central Washington U.S. Rep. Dan Newhouse.

Jerrod Sessler, the former regional circuit NASCAR driver and controversial hard-right Republican, will kick off his 2024 campaign at a Monday night event.

“I don’t know that people have a vehement feeling about Dan Newhouse as much as they just disagree that he’s not as vocal and doesn’t stand for the conservative values that are as prominent in Central Washington,” Sessler told the Tri-City Herald in an interview last week.

Sessler, 54, and five other Republicans tried and failed last year to unseat the Fourth District congressman after he voted in favor of impeaching former President Donald Trump following the Jan. 6 insurrection.

But Sessler received only 12% of the primary vote and finished fourth behind Newhouse, Yakima Democrat Doug White and Trump-endorsed candidate Loren Culp. This despite self-funding his own campaign to the tune of $351,000.

“This time, it’s not a long shot,” Sessler said. “Basically two thirds of the voters voted against Dan Newhouse in the last primary. That tells you if we can keep the field narrow then Dan Newhouse is in trouble because people want something other than him.”

Seats in the U.S. House are subject to reelection every two years.

Newhouse’s campaign manager Derek Flint said the Sunnyside farmer is “absolutely planning” to run for a sixth term in Congress.

Threats and voter allegations

Sessler, a U.S. Navy veteran who has never held public office but who considers himself a political firebrand, says he’s running to “stand against the woke agenda that is and has overtaken our country.”

But his time in the public spotlight so far has been mired with complicated disputes, and he’s been relatively mum about his personal business dealings.

In September, Sessler allegedly threatened to shoot a Benton County code enforcement officer who came to his property to follow up on a citizen complaint.

The officer was checking in on claims that someone was living in a house that was still under construction and was possibly occupying a recreational vehicle or trailer without a required permit.

Sessler this week called the incident a “setup” — alleging that a false conspiracy was hatched between the complainant, county commissioners and the Tri-City Herald reporter who covered the matter — but he declined to speak further about it.

Threatening a public official is a Class B felony. While Sessler was never charged with any crimes and no police reports were filed, the Benton County commissioners, who are all Republicans, sent him a warning letter.

Sessler’s voter registration was also scrutinized and challenged last year by John Trumbo, a Kennewick city councilman and local conservative government activist.

He alleged that Sessler did not live on the property he owns on Old Inland Empire Highway because he did not have the necessary occupancy permits needed to live there while he was building his home, but Benton County Auditor Brenda Chilton threw out the challenge for a lack of “clear and convincing” proof.

The address in question was where Sessler was registered to have been living when he voted in the previous election.

On the campaign trail last year, Sessler also alleged that Culp’s campaign manager, Christopher Gergen, harassed him and was aggressive toward him at an event in Yakima. He filed for a court protection order after the incident.

Spending and immigration

Sessler served aboard the U.S.S. Constellation CV-64 in San Diego from 1987 to 1989 before being honorably discharged from active duty into the Navy Reserves, according to a limited review of his DD214 form.

He declined to let the Herald view a section of his discharge papers that would have included more detailed information about his time in the military.

If elected, Sessler said he would focus on addressing “government corruption,” particularly in federal agencies, as well as advocate for budgetary reforms.

“One of the big things is that there’s never been a spending bill that came across (Newhouse’s) desk that he didn’t sign. Those spending bills need to be broken up,” he said.

Sessler says he would work to “clinch up the purse strings” of Congress by cutting billions of dollars in aid being sent to Ukraine.

He also believes in the false premise that the 2020 U.S. presidential was stolen from Trump, calling the country’s election systems a “banana republic.”

On immigration, Sessler says U.S. Customs and Border Protection needs a “PR campaign” to discourage asylum seekers from coming to the country.

Back in May, just as COVID-era border protections protecting migrants were lifted, Newhouse and the GOP-majority House passed a bill aiming to strengthen security measures at the southern U.S.-Mexico border.

The Secure the Border Act of 2023 would mandate hiring of more border patrol officers, make technology investments and resume construction of Trump’s border wall.

It’s unlikely to pass the Senate, where Democrats hold a slight majority.

Sessler declined to comment on if he would have supported such a bill, but said that, “Dan and I probably agree the most on border security.”