Incumbent Marie Gluesenkamp Pérez (D) and Joe Kent (R) are running in the general election for Washington’s 3rd Congressional District on November 5, 2024.
Axios Seattle’s Melissa Santos wrote, “The toss-up race in Washington’s 3rd Congressional District is one of this year’s most competitive U.S. House races, central to Democrats’ and Republicans’ battle for control of the chamber.” Gluesenkamp Pérez is one of eight Democrats who represent districts that voted for Donald Trump (R) in 2020.
The race is a rematch of the 2022 contest between Gluesenkamp Pérez and Kent. Former U.S. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler (R) represented the district from 2010 until her defeat in 2022, when she placed third in the top-two primary and did not advance to the general election. Herrera Beutler was one of ten Republicans who voted to impeach Trump. Gluesenkamp Pérez defeated Kent 50.1%-49.3% in the 2022 general election, changing party control of the district.
Before her election to Congress, Gluesenkamp Pérez ran an automotive repair business with her husband. Kent is a retired Green Beret, former CIA field operative, and former foreign policy advisor to Trump.
Gluesenkamp Pérez co-chairs the Blue Dog Coalition, a caucus of moderate House Democrats who often vote with Republicans. The New York Times’s Annie Karni wrote that Gluesenkamp Pérez’s “social circle consists mostly of two Republican Bible study groups.” Gluesenkamp Pérez told Politico in an interview, “There was sort of this idea that I was this undercover AOC,” referring to U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D): “Working class. Latina. Underdog. So that was sort of the only things they were really seeing.” On policy, however, Gluesenkamp Pérez said she and Ocasio-Cortez have “come to very different conclusions.”
Gluesenkamp Pérez voted against President Joe Biden’s (D) student loan forgiveness plan and voted to lift Biden’s pause on weapon shipments to Israel. Her priorities include Right to Repair legislation to help consumers repair their own items, border security, and “fighting for reproductive freedom.”
The Washington State Standard’s Jerry Cornfield said Kent is campaigning differently this election than the last, this time focusing on the economy, immigration, and crime rather than on abortion and the validity of the 2020 election results. Kent said he spoke with local leaders and activists, studied other Republicans who won a rematch and discovered three ways his campaign could improve. He said these changes include a stronger push for early voting, reaching a broader voting base, and “giving more attention to local issues … like the need for a new I-5 bridge, returning control of natural resources to local leaders, and addressing the fentanyl epidemic.”
Kent said Gluesenkamp Pérez is not a moderate Democrat, and Gluesenkamp Pérez said Kent is no different than in 2022. Kent’s campaign website states, “Marie Glusenkamp-Perez … votes in line with the Biden administration’s radical agenda to increase inflation, weaken our national defense, and open our borders.” Gluesenkamp Pérez wrote, “The only thing different about Joe Kent in 2024 is the color of his yard signs. … Oh, and Trump hasn’t endorsed him this time.”
Washington’s 3rd Congressional District is one of 37 congressional districts with a Democratic incumbent or an open seat that the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) is targeting in 2024.
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