Democratic Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez has as soon as once more defeated Republican Joe Kent, incomes her a second time period within the U.S. Home of Representatives after a tense third Congressional District race.
“It’s just a profound honor to get to continue doing this work and fighting to represent our values,” she mentioned Friday.
Thursday night outcomes from the Washington Secretary of State’s Workplace present Perez with 184,767 votes, or 51.33 p.c of the vote, and Kent trailing with 173,770, or 48.28 p.c of the vote.
Provided that 61 p.c of remaining ballots to be counted must go to Kent for him to tug forward, The Columbian known as the race for Perez on Thursday evening.
Kent didn’t reply to requests for remark.
The third Congressional District race was some of the carefully watched races within the nation, as events battle for the U.S. Home of Representatives. When Perez and Kent confronted off in 2022, Perez gained by simply 2,629 votes.
Influential Republicans, together with Speaker of the Home Mike Johnson and now President-elect Donald Trump backed Kent — a former Inexperienced Beret who served as international affairs adviser for Trump in 2020.
“I’ve known it was going to be a dog fight, so I never took this for granted,” Perez mentioned.
However this time, Perez seems to be main by about 11,000 votes, having drummed up extra help although most of her district voted for Trump within the 2024 presidential election.
Perez attributes the rise to her time in Congress. When she ran in 2022, she was a political newcomer, spending most of her days along with her toddler son and working an auto-repair store along with her husband in Northeast Portland.
“I think a lot of people were skeptical about whether or not somebody with my background could be effective in Congress,” she mentioned. “Those folks were able to look at my record and see I wasn’t kidding about my work ethic. I wasn’t kidding about my independence and my sense of accountability.”
At a Democratic election evening celebration on the Hilton Vancouver Washington, Perez condemned political division and embraced bipartisanship.
Her first time period taught her the significance of being “a normal person” in Congress, she informed The Columbian.
“When terrible things happen to your colleagues, bring them groceries. Help them out. Don’t isolate each other on an ideological basis. Just be a good person to people,” she mentioned.
Her neighborly angle will assist her in Congress, she mentioned.
“I have a job to do there, and I need to be aware of every partnership I can exercise — who merits trust and who might not,” Perez mentioned.
Simply weeks in the past, Perez launched a invoice with Republican Rep. Virginia Foxx of North Carolina to take away regulatory obstacles stopping the preparation of contemporary vegetables and fruit in little one care services.
“I heard from a constituent that she was not legally allowed to peel a banana in her classroom,” Perez mentioned. “She could open up a bag of chips for toddlers, but she couldn’t peel a banana.”
Her No. 1 precedence within the subsequent session will likely be bringing help to the third Congressional District by introducing payments and preventing to make different payments extra reflective of her neighborhood, Perez mentioned.
“I think that what we have here is worth fighting for,” she mentioned. “It is kind of a bulwark of what I think makes our country great: our independence, our natural resources, our kids.”