Washington Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, left, and state Sen. Leader John Braun will face one another in Washington’s 3rd Congressional District seat race in November.
Left image: Jenny Kane/AP; Right image: Jenny Kane for OPB
In one of the most closely watched U.S. House races in the country, an incumbent Democrat representing Southwest Washington’s 3rd Congressional District will face a well-known Republican state leader come November, in what’s expected to be an unpredictable match up that could help determine which party controls Congress.
Early returns showed just a sliver of daylight between two-term U.S. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez and Republican state Sen. John Braun as voters’ top choices in a race that could be crucial for Republican efforts to hold onto a razor-thin majority. The district is one of only 18 in the country that political experts say is a toss-up.
Gluesenkamp Perez, first elected in 2022, narrowly won reelection two years ago as a moderate Democrat representing a district that went to President Donald Trump in 2024. While results are unofficial, The Associated Press called the primary race Tuesday night.
“Regardless of who is in the majority, my loyalty is to Southwest Washington,” Gluesenkamp Perez said Tuesday night at a campaign party in Vancouver.
The Democrat from Washougal and the Republican from Centralia were heavily favored to win out of a pool of nine hopeful candidates because of their large institutional support and significant fundraising reserves. Braun, who is the minority leader in the state senate, was endorsed by Trump in April.
Early returns showed Braun with 38.7% of the vote and Gluesenkamp Perez with 38.9%. A third candidate, progressive Democrat Brent Hennrich, was holding 15.3% in early returns.
“Sixty percent of the voters voted somewhere else, so it clearly shows a path to win in the general,” Braun told OPB by phone. “We just got to go out and do the work and let the voters decide.”
Tuesday’s primary election included a crowded field of candidates from across the political spectrum. According to Washington state’s top two primary system, the two candidates who receive the most votes move onto the November general election, regardless of their party.
Tuesday’s primary election results could portend a close general election race if Gluesenkamp Perez can’t recapture voters who went for Hennrich. In her two terms, she has positioned herself as a moderate and a champion of the working-class who will cross party lines if it benefits her constituents.
During his campaign, Hennrich said Gluesenkamp Perez failed to listen to her liberal constituents and sided too often with Republicans on key issues like protecting voting rights, support for Israel and support for the National Defense Authorization Act.
He reiterated that theme Tuesday in Vancouver, saying that Gluesenkamp Perez “has no way to win in November if she does not speak to the voters that I captured.”
