U.S. Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Washington State) in Sierra Vista, Arizona on February 8, 2024 (Gage Skidmore/Flickr)
During the 2018 midterms and Donald Trump's first presidency, many prominent Republicans — from then-Sen. Jeff Lake (R-Arizona) to then-House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wisconsin) — announced that they would not be seeking reelection. And fear of a major blue wave was cited by many reporters as the reason for their decisions. Now, ahead of the 2026 midterms, history may be repeating itself.
On Wednesday morning, December 17, Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Washington State), announced that he "will not seek reelection" in 2026. Newhouse's announcement follows a long list of GOP lawmakers, from Rep. Don Bacon (R-Nebraska) to Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's (R-Georgia), deciding not to run next year. Greene is resigning from Congress, effective early January 2026.
In a statement posted on X, formerly Twitter, the 70-year-old Newhouse wrote, "After 25 years of public service, including more than a decade in the House, I am grateful to the Washingtonians who put their faith in me, as well as the colleagues I have served with on both sides of the aisle."
Newhouse didn't mention President Trump in his announcement or give any specific reasons for his decision, but CSPAN's Craig Caplan noted that he has been in Congress for a long time.
Caplan tweeted, "CraigCaplan 6th term central #WA04 GOP Congressman Dan Newhouse will not seek re-election and will retire at end of his current term: 'This decision comes with no reservations or remorse, only gratitude.'"
Alabama-based MAGA Republican Deborah J. Simmons, a strident Trump supporter, had a snarky response to Newhouse's announcement, tweeting, "Another RINO bites the dust."
Newhouse was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2014 after serving as director of the Washington State Department of Agriculture and spending over half a decade in the Washington House of Representatives. In 2021, the GOP lawmaker voted to impeach Trump.