SEATTLE — U.S. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler has fallen to third place behind Donald Trump-endorsed challenger Joe Kent, leaving the six-term incumbent on the edge of defeat.
With new votes tallied in Clark and Cowlitz counties Monday, Herrera Beutler, R-Battle Ground, was trailing Kent by 813 votes. She had been ahead by 257 votes as of Friday.
Facing backlash over her vote to impeach Trump over the Jan. 6 Capitol assault, Herrera Beutler had been in second place since election night in the 3rd District race in Southwest Washington.
But her support eroded in later ballot counts, which favored Kent. That trend continued Monday as a new batch of Clark County ballots put Kent ahead for the first time.
Democrat Marie Gluesenkamp Perez remained in first place with about 31% of the vote, leaving her headed for a November matchup against either Kent or Herrera Beutler. Kent was at 22.7% and Herrera Beutler at 22.4% as of Monday evening.
Thousands of votes remain to be counted in the all-mail ballot election, with Clark County estimating 10,000 left in the district’s largest population center.
The race for the second spot on the ballot may be headed for a recount.
A machine recount would be triggered if the gap is under 2,000 votes and also less than a half of 1% of the total votes cast for the candidates. A manual recount is required if candidates are separated by fewer than 150 votes and less than a quarter of 1% of the total votes for both candidates.
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