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YAKIMA These are hard times for Democrats in Central Washington state.

For the first time in state history, the general election for a U.S. House seat features two Republicans and no Democrat. Thats because the two Republicans in the 4th Congressional District received the most votes in the August primary under the states system in which the top two vote-getters advance, regardless of party.

The state and national GOP are not taking sides in the race between Clint Didier, a tea-party activist, and Dan Newhouse, a mainstream Republican.

We are pleased that seat is going to remain in Republican hands, said Steve Beren, spokesman for the Washington State Republican Party. It would be great if that happened in all the districts.

The 4th District covers Central Washington, the states agricultural powerhouse. The district grows apples, cherries, wine grapes and dozens of other high-value cash crops, and relies on thousands of migrant farmworkers who toil in fields and warehouses. The districts population centers are in Yakima and the Tri-Cities.

The district historically votes solidly for the GOP, going overwhelmingly for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney over President Obama in 2012. Republican U.S. Rep. Doc Hastings, who has held the seat since 1994, beat Democrat Mary Baechler 66 to 33 percent in 2012. The last time a Democrat won the seat was 1992.

With Hastings retiring, the primary election featured eight Republicans, two Democrats and two independents.

Didier, a former NFL player, got 31 percent of the vote, and Newhouse, a farmer and politician, got 25 percent. The two Democrats, Estakio Beltran and Tony Sandoval, combined for just 18 percent of the vote in what is considered the states most conservative House district.

Democrats had figured to draw some 30 percent of the primary vote but ended up far short.

Im not sure why, said Mary Stephenson, a longtime Democratic leader in Yakima.

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U.S. House race in Central Washington lacks a Democrat