GOP Representative Dan Newhouse is challenged in the primary by Tiffany Smiley

Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-WA) gained a new GOP primary challenger on Monday after former Senate candidate Tiffany Smiley announced she would run against one of the last pro-impeachment House Republicans in 2024.

Newhouse is one of two GOP members left in the House who voted in favor of impeaching former President Donald Trump. Though Washington state’s jungle primary allowed for Newhouse to fend off primary opponents easily in 2022, the entry of Smiley, a middle-ground Republican who ran a competitive race against Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), could narrow the congressman’s chances of reelection.

“It’s time for fresh leadership,” Smiley said in an interview with the National Review. “We have an invasion at the border. We have unrest in our own country. We have an economy where families are struggling to keep up with the price increase, and we have unrest around the globe.”

In a video announcing her candidacy, she drew on her experience with veterans advocacy after her husband, former Army Maj. Scotty Smiley, was blinded by a suicide car bomb in Iraq almost 20 years ago.

“For almost 20 years, I’ve worked to change the government from the outside. Now it’s clear: The best way for me to continue my work and deliver change for Washington families is inside Congress,” Smiley said.

Smiley ran a close race against Murray leading up to the 2022 election, but the Democratic senator defeated her by nearly 15 points. During her 2022 campaign, Smiley told the Washington Examiner that she “hates labels” and wanted to find “common ground” with people regardless of political affiliation. Her attacks against Murray were more about leadership shortcomings than politically Republican motives.

Following her loss, Smiley launched the Endeavor PAC to benefit Republican candidates running for Congress in 2024, contributing to campaigns such as David McCormick’s in Pennsylvania and Tim Sheehy’s in Montana.

Whether she handles her race against Newhouse in a similar way she did against Murray remains to be seen. When running for Senate, she was doing so in a deep-blue state against a five-term Democratic incumbent, requiring Smiley to moderate some of her Republican stances to appeal to voters. However, considering Newhouse is one of two GOP members in Washington’s House delegation and represents Washington’s solid-red 4th District, Smiley may be able to use his vote to impeach Trump against him.

“That’s not a vote that represents the voters of the Fourth District,” Smiley told the National Review. “Donald Trump is our nominee, and we need Donald Trump’s policies in this country to save this country going forward. So given Newhouse’s past history with Trump, I don’t believe that Newhouse is the best person to legislate with a Trump administration.”

However, Smiley enters the primary against Newhouse at a slight disadvantage: A split Republican primary field could instead boost Newhouse’s chances of reelection, particularly as Trump has already endorsed veteran and former NASCAR driver Jerrod Sessler in Washington’s 4th District jungle primary. Sessler ran in 2022 and came in fourth place with just 12% of the vote.

Smiley told the National Review she is undeterred despite a crowded challenger lineup.

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“At this point, Sessler has been in the race for four years,” she said. “He’s a perennial candidate, very low name recognition and no chance of winning.”

The Washington Examiner reached out to Smiley and Newhouse for comment.