Clayton said he suspects that, in the long run, Newhouse and Herrera Beutler’s votes on impeachment are “going to work out well for them.”
“They’re going to look like they behaved like statespeople, as leaders,” he said.
Some experts think Washington’s top-two primary system made it easier for Herrera Beutler and Newhouse to vote their conscience, potentially blunting some of the political repercussions they might face in next year’s election. In Washington state, the top two vote-getters in the primary move on to the general election, no matter their party affiliation.
Dave Wasserman, the House editor of the nonpartisan Cook Political Report, wrote on Twitter shortly before the impeachment
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