Washington’s 4th Congressional District stretches from the Oregon border to Canada and encompasses key agricultural areas such as the Tri-Cities, Yakima and Moses Lake. Republican Amanda McKinney, a Yakima County Commissioner, and Democrat John Duresky, a former Hanford project control officer and retired Air Force Major, are running to fill a seat held for 12 years by Rep. Dan Newhouse, a hop, tree fruit and winegrape grower.
Newhouse’s departure leaves more than a vacant seat — it also removes one of Congress’s few working farmers. The real underlying contest in November will be replacing that hands-on agriculture credibility built over Newhouse’s career that includes Washington’s Department of Agriculture.
Given the region’s deep agricultural roots, farming serves as the economic cornerstone of the 4th District, where rising costs, broader economic challenges, and the future of rural healthcare top the community’s concerns.
Background and Experience of the Candidates
McKinney, a Central Washington native, is a Yakima County Commissioner. Before entering public service, she spent more than 20 years in mortgage banking. She also serves as vice chair of the National Association of Counties’ Rural and Agriculture Affairs Committee and represents counties across the country on wildfire issues.
Duresky is a 24-year Air Force veteran and 13-year civil servant. While he says he does not have a formal agricultural background, he grew up around rural life, hoeing soybean fields, detasseling corn and rounding up cattle.
Key Priorities for Washington Growers
Duresky says he hopes to continue the district’s representation on the House Agriculture Committee.
“I think agriculture is a bipartisan issue, but I will work with anyone to improve our agricultural economy, especially for our small, independent growers and farmers,” he says.
McKinney says agriculture will be a priority regardless of committee assignment, and she will work closely with the agriculture committee to advance the farm bill.
“I would seek a seat on the Appropriations Committee because of its ability to address several of Central Washington’s most significant needs, including agricultural research, water infrastructure, wildfire prevention and reliable energy,” she says.
McKinney identifies several key agricultural priorities, including water rights and infrastructure, a reliable legal workforce, regulatory relief, tax certainty, reliable and affordable energy access, and the repeal of the federal estate tax.
“Water and wildfire are inseparable from the future of our rural communities. The most important resource in this district is water. Its availability determines whether farms can produce, communities can grow, and the next generation can build a future here,” she says. “Federal policy must protect existing rights, respect local conditions and support long-term water planning.”
For Duresky, it’s rolling back tariffs, ending the war with Iran to get oil flowing and restoring a stable workforce for the ag community.
“After talking with farmers and orchardists, I understand the genuine commitment needed to make improvements necessary for agriculture to continue to flourish here in Central Washington,” he says.
McKinney says a modernization of the H-2A guest worker program is desperately needed to reduce costs and improve predictability.
“We also need a workable legal workforce solution for year-round agricultural employers,” she says.
She also emphasizes the need to repeal the federal estate tax.
“A family farm’s value is often tied up in land, equipment, and other assets necessary to keep producing,” she says. “Families should be able to pass those operations to their children without a federal tax burden that can force the sale of land or threaten the business’s future.”
Duresky argues that the federal subsidy and crop insurance processes are upside down.
“I’ve heard from Washington farmers that the insurance process isn’t even worth it here because the claims take too long and don’t pay enough to cover losses,” he says. “Subsidies seem to flow to the largest producers—the producers who have the overhead to complete the bureaucratic maze of paperwork; this is backwards. We should be protecting our smallest producers, with subsidies tapering off as the size of the enterprise increases.”
