- Politics
Tiffany Smiley is charting another course to Washington, D.C. This time, she's challenging a fellow Republican in an attempt to get into Congress.
"My journey to politics started at Walter Reed Army Hospital almost 20 years ago when I pushed back against gov dysfunction and won. Now, it’s time for me to push back from inside Congress, and win for my friends and neighbors in WA-04. Join me, as we take the fight to Congress!" Smiley wrote Monday morning in an announcement on X (formerly Twitter).
RELATED: Why polls got the Murray / Smiley Senate race wrong
Smiley is known to Washington voters from her 2022 campaign to unseat Democratic Sen. Patty Murray. The Republican raised millions for the effort, and in the process, became a local GOP celebrity and has since been featured as a cable news talking head. Murray won that election with 57% of the vote, to Smiley's 43%. Now, Smiley is running to represent Washington's 4th Congressional District.
In her video announcement, Smiley leans into rhetoric echoing her 2022 campaign for Senate — her husband's combat injuries, highlighting issues of affordability and homelessness, and challenging government bureaucracy and "the swamp," a term common among former President Trump's MAGA supporters.
My journey to politics started at Walter Reed Army Hospital almost 20 years ago when I pushed back against gov dysfunction and won. Now, it’s time for me to push back from inside Congress, and win for my friends and neighbors in WA-04. Join me, as we take the fight to Congress! pic.twitter.com/p0tbAzopYj
— Tiffany Smiley (@SmileyForWA) May 6, 2024
Smiley does not mention Dan Newhouse, the Republican who has represented the 4th District since 2015, nor does she comment on why she is challenging another Republican for the job (her campaign website also, so far, does not mention Newhouse).
Rep. Newhouse was notably among 10 U.S. House Republicans who voted to impeach former President Trump following the events on Jan. 6. Many of those politicians were voted out of office, or stepped down. Washington Congressional District 3 Rep. Jaime Herrera-Beutler also voted in favor of impeachment. She was challenged in the following primary by a MAGA Republican and was knocked out of the position. Newhouse, however, survived the 2022 primary and won re-election with 67% of the vote.
Smiley isn't the only Republican challenging Newhouse in 2024. Republican Jerrod Sessler, whose website touts an endorsement from Trump, is also running to represent the 4th District. Among Sessler's arguments against Newhouse is the representative's impeachment vote.
In her 2022 campaign for Senate, Smiley made headlines when her website removed all mentions of "election integrity" after the August primary. The term was widely used by Trump supporters and those who promoted the conspiracy theory that the 2020 election was stolen by Biden. Smiley's online activity since 2022 has included content in support of Trump.
More recently, Newhouse has shied away from saying whether he would support Trump in the 2024 presidential election. He has been more known as a prominent voice against the re-introduction of grizzly bears to the North Cascades.
RELATED: WA Republican Newhouse won’t say if he’ll endorse Trump in 2024
Washington's 4th Congressional District is just east of the Cascade Mountains, and covers all of Central Washington. The last time a Democrat represented the 4th District was in 1994-95 by then Rep. Jay Inslee, before he became governor. The last time a woman represented the 4th District was 1959-71, when Republican Catherine Dean May became the first woman elected to Congress from Washington state.
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