Gluesenkamp Perez faces MAGA rematch for U.S. House in rural WA

Marie Gluesenkamp Perez squeaked out one of the biggest political upsets of 2022 when the then-34-year-old auto shop owner flipped southwest Washington’s 3rd Congressional District, which had voted Republican for more than a decade.

Whether the first-term Democrat can hold on to her seat in a mostly rural district that went for Trump by four points in 2020 is another story – and one that could make or break any chance Democrats might have to retake the U.S. House, where Republicans currently hold a narrow eight-seat majority.

She faces a likely rematch with Joe Kent, a rising star in the MAGA movement, whom she previously beat by less than 1%. Although she has outraised Kent by nearly double in the primary, pulling in $7 million including independent committees, a June poll conducted by the Northwest Progressive Institute found the two in a dead heat.

Also in the race is Republican Leslie Lewallen, who has raised more than $800,000 and was endorsed by Vancouver newspaper The Columbian but remains a longshot to advance given Kent’s endorsement from Donald Trump and the state Republican Party.

https://crosscut.com/politics/2024/08/gluesenkamp-perez-faces-maga-rematch-us-house-rural-wa