But he can certainly define his next campaign: Trump has already vowed revenge on each of the 10 Republicans who voted to remove him from office, while members of the Clark County Republican Party voted to censor her.
“The first thing they did [2020] campaign about, which is ironic for me … it was about my willingness to vote for Trump, ”said Herrera Beutler. “Go ahead today and people getting ready to run, say, ‘She’s not Trump enough.'”
The blow she must contending with is not limited to Trump and voters in his district. Some Republican Party colleagues were furious that she publicly relayed what McCarthy told her about her phone call with Trump during the siege of Capitol Hill, where the then president allegedly sided with the rioters.
Then, after a CNN report brought up some of those details near the end of the Senate trial, Herrera Beutler summoned anyone with more information about Trump’s mood on January 6 to speak up. Conspiracy theorist Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) Readily dubbed Herrera Beutler “the gift that continues to be given to Democrats”.
“It was not something that I had a choice. (…) I was definitely not thinking: ‘Ah, here’s a way to get my name on the news,’ ”said Herrera Beutler. “But, you know, sometimes the truth hurts too, and you can’t get away from it.”
Despite this tension, Herrera Beutler has received praise from other corners of the Republican Party and is still considered a valuable asset for the party, which has made the election of women and minorities a priority. Not to mention that Washington’s “jungle” primary system sends the two main candidates to the general election, regardless of the party, facilitating their path to re-election.
Some even think that the way Herrera Beutler handled the impeachment could help in her increasingly purple district, nestled between Seattle and Portland.
Herrera Beutler “has a unique opportunity to continue to attract more women to the Republican Party,” said Olivia Perez-Cubas, a spokeswoman for the Winning For Women Action Fund, which aims to boost female Republican candidates.
But she will not do so following the path of Congressman Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.), Who has become a mainstay of cable news and launched an entire PAC dedicated to tackling the party’s Trump wing. “I’m not going to camp here forever,” said Herrera Beutler of the anti-Trump lead.
What she is doing with the profile she gained during the impeachment trial is to assess how to make progress on “things that benefit this district and this nation”, as she said.
“Maybe part of my role is to help us get back to being who we are,” said Herrera Beutler. “At the moment, when you talk to the generation of the millennium and younger people, I don’t know if they want to join this club. Like, it doesn’t look like a fun party, right? There is no room for individual thoughts. “
His recipe for how to lead the party away from its obsession with Trump and back to its conservative roots does not include asking for a shake-up of the Republican Party leadership. Herrera Beutler said she supports the entire Republican leadership team and would support McCarthy as mayor or minority leader at the next Congress. It is normal for her leaders to have different points of view than hers, she argued.
But she added: “This is a two-way street. I will not embrace whoever is sharing the party. And they have to agree with that too. “