As barbs fly and Trump waddles in, a central WA congressional race heats up

Two years ago, Amanda McKinney, a Republican Yakima County commissioner, made a commercial endorsing Republican U.S. Rep. Dan Newhouse for re-election and assailing his GOP opponent who had the backing of then former President Donald Trump.

“I trust Dan,” she says in the 30-second television spot, adding that he has the “experience and clout to keep delivering for central Washington.”

Two weeks ago, McKinney, who is running to succeed the outgoing Newhouse, offered a different story at AmericaFest, an annual event hosted by Turning Point USA, the conservative organization founded by the late Charlie Kirk.

She told the crowd that after “her congressman” voted to impeach Trump in 2021, “I knew that I needed to find a way to retire him. I took a couple years … understanding and finding a pathway to retire our sitting congressman.”

https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2026/01/07/as-barbs-fly-and-trump-wades-in-a-central-wa-congressional-race-heats-up/