Washington 5th District Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers Cruises to Victory, Claims Eighth Term

Washington 5th Congressional District Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers beat Democratic challenger Lisa Brown in the 2018 Midterm election to claim her eighth term in the U.S. House.

At an Election Night party in downtown Spokane, supporters waved signs and cheered for McMorris Rodgers as she took the stage to give her victory speech.

“This election was tough. It was a battle,” she told the crowd. “I stand before you tonight stronger, better and more convicted in what we are fighting for.”

As the crowd cheered, she called “We are fighting for freedom!” She said the country needs unity and ‘healing.’

“… healing of broken families and broken lives, healing for our country as each one of us do our part to build those bridges,” she said.

McMorris Rodgers is the highest-ranking Republican woman in Congress as a member or House GOP leadership. Her seat in eastern Washington was one of three in the state — including the 3rd and 8th — that had the potential to flip to Democrats, and was closely watched nationally. It’s also the only one of those three seats that was decided early and easily Tuesday night.

While Republicans maintained their majority in the U.S. Senate, Democratic voters managed to chip away at the House, where they will maintain a majority for at least the next two years.

Former U.S. Congressman George Nethercutt represented Washington’s 5th District for ten years beginning in 1995, beating then-Speaker of the House Tom Foley, the first time a sitting Speaker lost reelection since 1860. Nethercutt said he remembered a time when Democrats swept elections.

“I remember 1992, Bill Clinton won, Patty Murray won and two years later, we Republicans came back and took the house after 40 years,” he said.

Nethercutt addressed the crowd of Republicans, many wearing bright red shirts and hats, just before Congresswoman Cathy McMorris took the stage to claim her victory. The Congresswoman succeeded Nethercutt in 2005.