RIDGEFIELD, Wash. — On Thursday, U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson was in Ridgefield, Washington supporting Republican Joe Kent in the race for Washington’s 3rd Congressional District in the final stretch before Election Day.
It’s a tight race that many are calling a toss-up, and it's drawing national attention with Republicans' power in the House on the line. The results of this race could increase the power they have in Congress, or contribute to their loss of control over the chamber.
The Ridgefield rally was haphazardly put together in a parking lot along the freeway. A crowd of about 80 people showed up with lawn chairs, and some people got emotional seeing Speaker Johnson in person.
“My presence here shows you how important this district is for all of us in America, everybody’s watching you all,” Johnson said.
He hit all the typical talking Republican talking points in this election, such as securing the border, the economy, and energy policy. But he also maintained a cautionary tone, almost warning the people in attendance about what he believes will happen if people don’t vote Republican — calling this a “dangerous time” for the country.
Johnson turned the speech to focus on former President Donald Trump, even attempting to impersonate him at one point, which drew laughs and cheers from the crowd.
After the rally, KGW’s Blair Best asked Johnson what his strategy was coming to southwest Washington just 12 days before the election.
“Well, it shows you how important this race is to us. This district in Washington is one that everybody around the country is watching because it’s so important. It’s rated as one of the closest toss-up seats and one the Republican Party should win,” Johnson said.
This race is a rematch for the two contenders. Back in 2022, Kent — a special forces Green Beret and Gold Star husband — lost to Democratic now-Congresswoman Marie Gluesenkamp Perez by less than 3,000 votes. Recent polling shows the two once again are neck and neck.
“We are right now tied up with Marie Perez,” Kent said.
“Serious times call for serious leaders, and that’s why Joe is the right guy for this moment and time,” added Johnson.
As Republicans rallied in the Ridgefield parking lot, Gluesenkamp Perez toured Pacific County in an RV.
“I think it’s reflective that what interests Joe is power and access to celebrities, and I’m here because I love our community and I value what we have here,” Gluesenkamp Perez told KGW.
KGW’s Blair Best asked Gluesenkamp Perez over a video call Thursday morning if she felt Johnson rallying with Kent would push voters in their favor.
“I don’t know how many people know who Mike Johnson is. I certainly didn’t follow politics before this, and I certainly wouldn’t have seen Mike Johnson as somebody who would influence my vote. I think we are pretty independent here in our community,” Gluesenkamp Perez said.
The speaker in Clackamas County
Speaker Johnson was also in Oregon City on Thursday supporting Congresswoman Lori Chavez-DeRemer in the race for Oregon’s 5th Congressional District. There the race is similarly close, though the circumstances are somewhat flipped — Chavez-DeRemer is the incumbent, facing a challenge from Democratic state lawmaker Janelle Bynum.
The 5th District has more registered Democrats than Republicans, and has historically been favorable to Democrats. But the largest voting bloc in the district is among unaffiliated voters, who could go either way — and they helped Chavez-DeRemer flip the seat in 2022. That was an upset, just as Gluesenkamp Perez's win in Washington was two years ago.
Like he did with Kent, Johnson said Thursday that Chavez-DeRemer is a "serious" person who can meet serious challenges.
Speaking to a room of about 150 supporters, Johnson touted Chavez-DeRemer's bipartisan record, saying that she has more labor union endorsements than "any other Republican" he's ever seen in his life.
"You've got one of the hardest-working people, one of the most effective people, one of the most bipartisan legislators — she literally is ranked the second most bipartisan legislator in Congress," Johnson said of the congresswoman. "That's what we need right now. We need someone who can sit down, get everybody who has all these different ideas around the table and build consensus so we can move the ball forward for the most people."
Chavez-DeRemer echoed that sentiment, saying she'll work with anyone who will work with her on the issues that impact Oregonians, from the drug crisis and public safety to helping veterans. But like Kent, she acknowledged that her race is a close one.
"I will be your representative if the 119th Congress, but I can't do it without your vote," she said. "I can't do it without you calling 10 people and saying, 'Get out and vote.' This is an expensive race because they want me out."
Bynum, Chavez-DeRemer's opponent, took aim at the congresswoman's claims on being a political moderate in a statement to KGW:
"Lori Chavez-DeRemer has tried to mislead voters on her abortion record, but standing by one of the most extreme anti-abortion legislators, Mike Johnson, further confirms she is a direct threat to reproductive rights in Congress. She has been given every opportunity to represent and deliver for Oregon, but has chosen to side with MAGA extremists time and time again."
Do these political visits matter?
With just 12 days to go before Election Day, most people in these districts have already gotten their ballots. Some have already voted. So, does a visit like Speaker Mike Johnson's actually move the needle in any meaningful way?
To answer that question, The Story's Pat Dooris turned to Kevin Looper, a Democratic political strategist in the Portland area, and most recently one of two men behind the advocacy group "People for Portland."
Looper has run multiple big campaigns, and he thinks that at this late date, there's really no purpose behind stump visits like this one, whether Republican or Democrat.
"It's very hard to say whether or not there is any evidence that it makes an appreciable difference," Looper said. "We're at the stage of the campaign where the whole strategy is looking busy. And that's what the parties are doing right now. There's not much they can do. They've allocated all of their last dollars for spending.
"They still have white-knuckled phone calls every day going over the poll numbers. I know, for instance, in the DeRemer-Bynum race, both sides' internal polls, according to what I'm hearing, show them up one. So one of them's right, one of them's wrong — but it's certainly a close race, and nobody in politics can do nothing while they're waiting for the water to boil."
Looper didn't misspeak there, he means quite literally that none of the big political players can afford to "do nothing" — they have to look busy, even if it's fruitless at this point.
There's also the fact that the typical undecided voter just isn't swayed by these inside baseball endorsements, essentially echoing what Gluesenkamp Perez said. Undecided voters don't care about political bigwigs, they care about issues that affect them.
"I've had the president out here to Oregon a couple of times. When you do events that bring in a truly big name, like Barack Obama, it does have an effect on being able to raise money, for sure. You charge people for access. It's five grand to have your picture taken with the president ,and that money goes to help your local efforts to turn out the vote. It's an appreciable thing. It also cost you a bunch of money to do it. So it's not like you don't have pluses and minuses. But you absolutely, on the whole, do it — you get a newspaper article out of it. It's a marginal improvement in whatever your lie was before that.
"When you get down to the speaker of the House coming out, that doesn't count as a big name for anybody besides those of us who live and breathe politics every day, which is not the voters you're trying to reach. So it really doesn't do much for you in the press. It doesn't turn out new voters, unless Mike's got some relatives out here that are undecided on the race. I'm not sure he's gonna pull anybody into the Republican column — but they can't do nothing, so they send him."