Democratic U.S. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez speaks to Fran Walling (left) and Homer Terry in the patio of the Fat Moose Bar & Grill in Woodland, Wash. The first-term congresswoman is in a tough re-election fight in 2024 for the 3rd Congressional District and won’t say which presidential candidate she voted for. (Jerry Cornfield/Washington State Standard)
WOODLAND – Congresswoman Marie Gluesenkamp Perez won’t answer the most asked political question in America this year: who will you vote for, for president?
On Monday, after a couple slugs from a pint of beer, and the better part of an hour of back-and-forth with voters, Gluesenkamp Perez, strode into the unpaved parking lot of the Fat Moose Bar & Grill where she ducked, dodged, and eventually, ditched a reporter pressing her on the subject.
Yes, she voted. No, not for Donald Trump. When asked if she voted for Kamala Harris, the first-term representative strode purposefully through the lot, talking about the importance of letting voters decide on their own.
“I don’t want to tell people how to vote,” she said, glancing over her shoulder before getting into a car bound for her next event.
With two weeks to Election Day, the disciplined contortions Gluesenkamp Perez continues to go through to avoid saying “Vice President Kamala Harris” or revealing her choice for president, reflects the realpolitik of her bid for a second term in the 3rd Congressional District in southwest Washington.
The district leans Republican. Trump won a majority in the district the last two times he ran for the presidency. And Joe Kent, her opponent, is endorsed by the former president — though he, too, is selective about bringing up Trump’s name publicly.
“When he comes up, I talk about him. When he doesn’t come up I don’t bring it up,” Kent said Monday before joining a bevy of Republican candidates in Vancouver for a get-out-the-vote event attended by several hundred people.
In 2022, Gluesenkamp Perez beat Kent by 2,629 votes. What made it all the more impressive is in the same election, Republican Tiffany Smiley garnered 25,000 more votes within the 3rd District running for U.S. Senate than incumbent Democrat Patty Murray — although Murray did go on to win easily statewide.
With greater numbers of Republicans voting in a presidential election, Gluesenkamp Perez is in a difficult position as she looks to win support of independent and moderate Republicans as she did in 2022.
She is counting on steadfast Democrats to understand the reasons underlying her unwillingness to publicly endorse Harris.
She came close in August when a Politico reporter asked her about the selection of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as the vice presidential nominee. “I hope they’re successful,” she said. “I’m interested to learn more about him.”
Dan Bentson, a retired educator, said Monday he gets it but he still came to Fat Moose Bar & Grill, to hear if Gluesenkamp Perez would share what “good advice” she would give to undecided voters in the race for president.
“I’d be interested to know what she is worried about,” he said. “I would love to see her be more liberal but then she might lose this thing. I’m not going to be an armchair quarterback on this.”
‘Authentic voices for their districts’
Gluesenkamp Perez is campaigning as a moderate, touting the willingness she’s shown to work with Republicans on issues and to oppose President Joe Biden on his border security and student loan forgiveness policies.
Though she steers clear of the Washington State Democratic Party — skipping the statewide convention and upcoming get-out-the-vote rallies — she continues to be embraced by party leaders. They’re talking her up and helping her raise money. And the House Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and House Majority PAC, are spending millions of dollars helping her by attacking Kent.
Washington Democratic U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene, who represents a district that stretches north from Bellevue and chairs the congressional campaign committee, campaigned with Gluesenkamp Perez in Washougal on Saturday. DelBene has defended the path taken by vulnerable Democratic caucus members like Gluesenkamp Perez
DelBene told The Hill two weeks ago that lawmakers in battleground districts should campaign in ways that cater to their voters, even if it breaks from the “national landscape.”
“The reason that they are all elected right now is because they have been independent, authentic voices for their districts, and they’re gonna continue to do that,” DelBene said. “But it’s about making sure people understand where they stand, what their issues are. There’s the national landscape but they’re representing their districts.”
Republican Joe Kent talks with attendees at a GOP get-out-the-vote event in Vancouver, WA. Kent is challenging Democratic U.S. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez in the 3rd Congressional District. The nationally-watched contest is one of a handful that could determine control of the U.S. House in 2025. (Jerry Cornfield/Washington State Standard)
Republicans contend Gluesenkamp Perez is a liberal masquerading as a moderate and only votes for GOP-sponsored legislation she knows won’t make it to the president’s desk.
There’s a lot of deception going on, Kent told the crowd in Vancouver. “Every Democrat right now is trying to basically put on a MAGA hat without putting on a MAGA hat,” he said.
Trump-free zone
Kent’s reference to the “Make America Great Again” slogan was the nearest any candidate came to mentioning Trump at the gathering hosted by Firmly Planted Action.
That didn’t surprise Heidi St. John, president of the group and a social conservative who ran unsuccessfully for the 3rd District congressional seat in 2022.
The intent was to give candidates a chance to get out their messages and to preach the importance of party unity. “Everybody knows the face of Donald Trump and the message of Donald Trump,” she said.
Not everyone in Monday’s lineup is on board the Trump train.
Republican gubernatorial candidate Dave Reichert spoke and he has said he won’t vote for the party’s presidential nominee.
Jaime Herrera Beutler, candidate for public lands commissioner, also spoke. She represented the 3rd District in the U.S. House until Kent finished ahead of her in a primary following her 2021 vote to impeach Trump. On Monday, Herrera Beutler and Kent sat a few chairs apart during the event but didn’t speak. Each pitched the importance of Republican voters backing Republican candidates.
“This is a race we are currently in a position to win,” Herrera Beutler said. “We are going to do that in two weeks with your help.”
Kent addressed the group a few minutes later.
“The biggest lesson for tonight is that when we unite, we can win,” he said.