Republicans who voted for impeachment take lead over Trump-backed challengers in Washington state

Democrats set to advance after GOP field split in Washington’s closely watched primary election

Two Republicans who voted for the impeachment of Donald Trump have taken an early lead over their GOP rivals backed by the former president and tasked with a mission to oust them.

Dan Newhouse, of Washington’s fourth congressional district, and Jaime Herrera Beutler, of its third, were both some way ahead of hardline Maga-championing challengers who had received the endorsement of the former president.

With 47 per cent of the vote counted, Mr Newhouse had 27 per cent of the vote, Democrat Doug White had secured 26 per cent, and Republican Loren Culp – the candidate backed by Mr Trump – was on 22 points.

In the third congressional district, with 57 per of the vote counted, Ms Herrera Beutler was in second place with 25 per cent, behind Democrat Marie Gluesenkamp Perez on 32 points.

Behind Ms Herrera Beutler was Joe Kent, a former Green Beret with the backing of Mr Trump on 20 per cent, and Heidi St John, a Christian activist and author, on 15 points.

Washington state is one of two places in the country to use an open top-two primary, in which the top two candidates, irrespective their political party, advance to the general election showdown in November.

Political analyst Dave Wasserman of the Cook Political Report said while neither race had been called, it appeared both incumbents would advance to the general election and most likely win against their Democratic challenger.

“Based on initial returns, it’s a strong bet pro-impeachment Rep Dan Newhouse will advance in #WA04’s top-two primary. As long as he does, he’s safe in November (against either a D or R),” he tweeted.

He added: “Based on initial returns, it’s also a strong bet pro-impeachment Rep Jaime Herrera Beutler will advance in #WA03’s top-two primary. As long as she does, she’s safe in November (against either a D or R). Both Newhouse and Herrera Beutler aided by split pro-Trump opposition.”

Mr Newhouse, 67, and Ms Herrera-Beutler, 43, were among just 10 Republicans in the House who voted for the impeachment of Mr Trump.

After he left office, Mr Trump vowed revenge against the 10 and backed right-wing challengers against them.

One of the 10, Peter Meijer, a congressman from Michigan, was trailing to challenger John Gibbs, who had the support of Mr Trump.

In the case of Ms Herrera Beutler, Mr Trump backed Mr Kent, who has been an outspoken challenger in the race for the third, where Ms Herrera Beutler was first elected in 2010 and reelected five times.

When she voted for Mr Trump’s impeachment, Ms Herrera-Beutler said: “The President of the United States incited a riot aiming to halt peaceful transfer of power from one administration to the next. That riot led to five deaths.”

She added: “I understand the argument that the best course is not to further inflame the country or alienate Republican voters. But I am a Republican voter. I believe in our Constitution.”

Mr Trump said in a statement that Ms Herrera Beutler’s impeachment vote was “against the Republican Party” and that Mr Kent, if elected, would be “a warrior for the America First agenda”.

In an interview with The Independent earlier this year, Mr Kent said: “We’re feeling pretty strong [Trump’s] still probably the most powerful endorsement in the history of US politics.”

Ms Gluesenkamp Perez had raised just a fraction of the money collected by her rivals, having only entered the race in April.

Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, a Democrat challenging Jaime Herrera Beutler for her seat in Washington's 3rd Congressional District, poses for a photo (Amanda Cowan/The Columbian via AP)

But she said the decision by the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v Wade, the landmark 1973 ruling that had permitted two generations of women access to safe and legal abortion, had seen a spike in interest in her campaign.

“After the collapse of Roe, it has been an order of magnitude difference, in the number of volunteers coming through our website,” she told a virtual town hall last month in response to a question from The Independent.  “People are angry. They’re coming out with their pitchforks for this race.”

She added: “We know that Jamie and Joe would both vote for a federal ban on abortion. And as much as we would like to think our rights are secure in Washington state, they’re not. They would like us to be complacent. We’re not. We’re not going to roll over for this one. These are rights worth fighting for.”

Also in Washington state, incumbent Democrat senator Patty Murray advanced to the general election against Republican Tiffany Smiley.

In the eighth congressional district, incumbent Democrat congresswoman Kim Schrier advanced to the general election after having secured more than 49 per of the vote, though it was unclear who would be her Republican challenger.