It’s been a long time coming, but here we are!! Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-WA) announced Monday that he won’t seek re-election in the 2026 midterms, making him the latest of the ten House Republicans who voted to impeach President Donald Trump after January 6, 2021 to exit the stage. MAGA supporters across the country greeted the news with the kind of enthusiasm usually reserved for a home-run in the bottom of the ninth.
Newhouse put out a statement dripping with gratitude and warm feelings. “This decision comes with no reservations or remorse, only gratitude for the tremendous opportunity to have represented my home state in Congress,” he wrote. He also touted his resume, noting, “After over 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.” Very touching. Trump voters, however, were not exactly reaching for the tissues.
For context, Dan Newhouse 2026 retirement announcement matters because his departure leaves Rep. David Valadao (R-CA) as the sole remaining House Republican who voted to impeach the president. Valadao isn’t exactly sitting pretty either, facing a tough race in a well-known battleground district. In the Senate, the impeachment-happy crowd has largely either retired or is staring down serious competition this cycle. The club is getting very small, very fast.
Newhouse’s own political situation had already made the writing pretty clear on the wall. In 2024 he barely beat a GOP challenger who had President Trump’s endorsement, in a district that analysts consider deep red. When a Republican almost loses his own primary in a safe seat, that’s the political equivalent of your car making a noise and the mechanic saying, “Yeah, don’t go anywhere too far.”
The reaction on social media from Trump supporters was, let’s say, colorful. One user wrote, “Fantastic! Now we only have one slob RINO left to ditch who voted to impeach President Trump on bogus bullsh*t. Don’t let the door hit ya in the cowardly, traitorous a** on your way out.” Another simply said, “Bye Dan… Asta la vista traitor.” A third kept it clean but direct: “You voted to impeach President Trump. I say this respectfully. You won’t be missed. Good riddance.” And one commenter tied a bow on the whole thing: “Good riddance. History will remember you as the cowardly RINO who voted to impeach President Trump and wouldn’t survive his Republican challengers in 2026.
Newhouse closed his statement on a sentimental note, calling his career “this uniquely American journey that took a farm boy from Sunnyside, Washington clear across the country” to Congress, and promising to “serve my district with energy and enthusiasm until the end of my term.” His deep-red seat is expected to stay Republican, so Central Washington voters should be just fine.
With Newhouse gone after this term, all eyes shift to Valadao as the last man standing from that 2021 impeachment vote. His district isn’t safe, and the midterms are coming. One by one, the list gets shorter, and MAGA is more than happy to keep marking names off.
