State senator is latest Republican to join central WA congressional race

Republican state Sen. Matt Boehnke announced Thursday he is forgoing re-election and entering this year’s race to succeed retiring Republican Congressman Dan Newhouse in central Washington.

And he wasted little time criticizing what he views as the performative politics of the two prominent Republicans, Jerrod Sessler and Amanda McKinney, also vying to take the reins from Newhouse in the 4th Congressional District.

“Residents want common sense leadership, they want a statesman that governs by listening to the people and wants to hear the concerns of all,” Boehnke said, referring to his approach. “They are looking for clicks on social media. They are running for the wrong reasons and not for the people.”

Boehnke, 57, of Kennewick, is in his first term representing the 8th Legislative District after serving four years in the House. He is a former Kennewick City Council member and served 22 years in the U.S. Army.

He described himself as a fiscal conservative who will “fight for America First ideas,” promote the district’s economic drivers like agriculture, aerospace and energy, and work to establish the region as a leader in the artificial intelligence sector.

Boehnke is a moderating voice in the Senate Republican Caucus. That, he said, will likely be a source of criticism from within the GOP.

“They’ll say I’m not Republican enough. I don’t scream on social media enough,” he said.

President Donald Trump has endorsed his opponents – McKinney most recently and Sessler in the 2024 election.

McKinney, a Yakima County commissioner, has also been endorsed by House Speaker Mike Johnson, along with Turning Point Action, the national conservative organization founded by the late Charlie Kirk.

Sessler, a business owner, has run for the seat twice. He lost in the primary in 2022.

Boehnke said if he gets through this year’s primary in August, he will reach out to the president.

“I voted for the man three times,” he said. And, Boehnke said Trump deserves the Nobel Peace Prize for his influential role in the change in power in Syria and cessation of violence in Gaza between Israel and Hamas.

One Democrat is mounting a bid for the 4th District seat so far: John Duresky, a retired Air Force officer who also worked at the Hanford nuclear cleanup site. Devin Poore, a tech consultant, has launched a campaign as an independent.

The last Democrat to win a U.S. House seat in the district was former Gov. Jay Inslee. He won in 1992, but lost re-election after one term to Doc Hastings, a Republican, who held the seat until retiring in 2015.

Washington’s 4th Congressional District stretches through the middle of the state from the Canadian border to Oregon. It includes the agriculture-heavy Yakima Valley, the Yakama Indian Reservation, and the Tri-Cities.

Boehnke’s decision to run has been expected. He expressed interest at the time of Newhouse’s announcement and then formed an exploratory committee.

Candidates are already lining up for his seat in the 8th Legislative District that includes Kennewick and west Pasco.

Gabe Galbraith, president of the Kennewick School District Board of Directors, announced his candidacy earlier this month. A Republican, he is a product of the Tri-Cities, and graduated from Kamiakin High School.

Galbraith is among the plaintiffs in a lawsuit that sought to overturn a law passed last year that overhauled a 2024 citizen initiative concerning rights for public school students and their parents. A measure on track to reach the ballot in November would achieve much of what the lawsuit seeks.

State Sen. Nikki Torres, R-Pasco, is also reportedly considering the race for Boehnke’s seat. This would require her to abandon her campaign for re-election in the 15th Legislative District. And to move, again.

Torres lives in Pasco. Due to redistricting, her neighborhood wound up in the neighboring 16th Legislative District. She recently secured a place to live in the 15th District to seek a second term. If she decides to run in the 8th District, she would need to find a residence there.

The district’s two Republican House members, April Connors of Kennewick and Stephanie Barnard of Pasco, are reportedly not interested in the state Senate seat.