McKinney leads in race to replace WA Rep. Dan Newhouse in Congress

A Republican backed by President Donald Trump emerged Tuesday as the frontrunner in the central Washington race to succeed a retiring GOP congressman who voted to impeach the president.

Republican Yakima County Commissioner Amanda McKinney, along with Democrat John Duresky, moved comfortably ahead of nine others vying to replace U.S. Rep. Dan Newhouse in the reliably Republican 4th Congressional District.

McKinney led with 34.9%, followed by Duresky, the lone Democrat in the race, with 30.8%. Republicans Jerrod Sessler and Matt Boehnke trailed far behind with 14.3% and 10.3%, respectively.

Meanwhile, moderate Democratic U.S. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez and Republican state Sen. John Braun are headed to a November face-off in southwest Washington’s 3rd Congressional District after finishing well ahead of seven other candidates on Tuesday. 

Gluesenkamp Perez had 38.9%, followed closely by Braun with 38.7% and Brent Hennrich, a progressive Democrat who challenged the incumbent from the left, with 15.3%.