What happens when both choices are bad?

Sometimes there are no good options.

I am writing this with a sick feeling in my stomach. I have been wrestling with my choice for the 4th Congressional seat. This time we have two conservative, white, Republican men on the ballot. 

First, let’s talk about the challenger, Jerrod Sessler.

I first learned of Jerrod Sessler in April 2021 when he posted an ad in Craigslist to hire campaign staff that partially read: “Sadly, due to our current woke-sheep culture, female candidates, although welcome, will need to demonstrate their commitment to the mission in writing and with references to protect the candidate from future false claims that could damage his reputation.” 

At the time, I contacted Sessler about the Craigslist post through his campaign website, and was later asked about it by the Tri-City Herald. I expressed my total disgust with having a candidate for Congress be so openly sexist and gross. In the end, Sessler — an ‘America First’ and Trump-endorsed candidate —  only managed to eke out 12% of the vote in the crowded primary. 

January 6, 2021

Sessler was in Washington, D.C. for the insurrection. At first, he claimed he was staying in  his hotel room; however, Sessler posted a photo of himself on January 6, clearly near the capital. 

When Congressmember Dan Newhouse cast his vote to impeach Donald Trump after the  January 6 insurrection, Sessler was motivated to run against him. He moved from Burien, Washington to Prosser so that he could claim to be a local. (Fun fact: you don’t have to live in the Congressional District you want to represent in order to run for that office, you just have to be a resident of the state.) 

When the photo of Sessler at the U.S. Capitol attack surfaced, he came clean. “This is what really happened on J6,” he said in a June 12 post to his Twitter social media account. “I was there. The police incited the violence they wanted. I watched them do it.” He tweeted that he was shocked that police “were throwing small bombs and shooting rubber bullets into the crowd of peaceful elderly, children and all.” [sic]

You can see more of Jerrod Sessler’s false claims about the January 6 insurrection here:

Sessler is a ‘graduate’ from Kennedy-Western University. Kennedy-Western (later renamed to Warren National University) was an unaccredited, online, for-profit diploma mill. He also claims to have been a NASCAR driver, an entrepreneur, and a farmer. 

From his own online content and his interactions with potential voters, I can tell you that I believe he has no real idea what a Congressmember does. He seems to care more about building an online brand, a la Marjorie Taylor Green or Matt Gaetz. 

Sessler would be a terrible choice for us. 

Don’t vote for this carpetbagger. 

Our other choice is incumbent Dan Newhouse. Newhouse began representing the 4th Congressional District after the 2016 election, in which he defeated Franklin County Commissioner Clint Didier. I voted for Newhouse in 2016, as Didier is farther to the right in his politics and is also mostly incompetent. Didier is currently under criminal investigation in Franklin County, and I can’t imagine the damage he would have done as a Congress  member. 

Newhouse has had two strong Democratic challengers that were both defeated by large margins since he first took office. This year, we had several Democratic challengers in the primary, but in the top-two jungle primary system that we have in Washington, both finishers were Republican. 

Newhouse is very conservative. I call him an affable Grandpa. He seems nice and has a pleasant demeanor, but make no mistake — he is a very rich farmer from Sunnyside that has benefited from generational wealth. His main issues in Washington have been fighting to protect farmers, ignoring climate change, benefiting from migrant labor without addressing the need for immigration reform, and fighting to preserve dams (DAMN the consequences).

Newhouse’s campaign page is littered with scare tactics and appeals to conservatives. As the final member of Congress who voted to impeach that still has his job, Newhouse has gone back to kissing Trump’s ring. And he is not softening on his core issues to appeal to the left. 

So, that is where we are at. Voting for one of these two. 

Oh, I know that there is a write-in candidate. And I have had many friends on the left argue that we could win the seat if enough people write them in. But a write-in candidate without party support has zero chance of winning. And this candidate does not have support. They are running a bare bones campaign with no name recognition. 

Some of my other friends have taken the nihilist approach. They believe that electing Sessler would mean the 4th Congressional District voters would realize it was a mistake, and we could run a moderate Democratic candidate and win the next election cycle. I think that is a terrible idea; my teen daughters don’t need any more of their rights eroded. 

Voters here have proven they will elect terrible candidates (see Semi Bird and Jerry Hatcher, both recalled from office and endorsed by the Benton County Republican Party), and unsurprisingly, they endorse Sessler. Franklin County Republicans have also endorsed Sessler. Several members of that group, including current chair Steve Bauman and previously mentioned Didier, are under criminal investigation. Another member (and J6er), Taylor Taranto, was charged with trying to bomb President Obama. 

We are a Trump 21+ district (meaning Trump won 58% of the vote in 2020), and Republicans easily win in head-to-head contests with Democratic candidates here. I don’t see the electorate swinging left because they worry that Sessler would be inept and embarrassing, or because he would peddle conspiracy theories. Sessler has already done all of those things, and he got the most votes in the primary. 

So, the choices are Sessler or Newhouse. 

I am going to grit my teeth, take a TUMS, drink a shot of liquor, and vote for Newhouse. Because one time he grew a spine and voted to impeach Trump. And that’s going to have to be good enough for me. 

A lifelong resident of Eastern Washington, Dori enjoys the outdoors, her family, and making good trouble. She has worked for many years in broadcasting and reporting and believes in the value of the 4th estate. She is a true community advocate that loves Washington.