VANCOUVER, Wash. — Democratic Congresswoman Marie Gluesenkamp Perez held a slight lead over Republican Joe Kent in early results for Washington’s 3rd Congressional District on Tuesday night. The race is one of the most closely watched in the nation this year, with pollsters rating it a “toss-up.”
Vote totals are not final and will continue to be updated both Tuesday night and in the coming days, potentially changing which candidate is ahead.
Gluesenkamp Perez hugged her husband and cheered with her supporters after seeing early voting results, hopeful that she'll be able to pull off back-to-back wins as a Democrat in a historically Republican-leaning district.
"If we win again, it is a signal to the rest of the country that it is possible to take a different path than hyper-partisanship," Gluesenkamp Perez said, "to focus on issues that directly affect us here at home."
Her opponent, Kent, last told KGW that it would be an honor to win this election in order to fight inflation and secure the border. He wasn't available for an interview Tuesday night, but did visit with voters waiting in a long line outside of the Clark County Elections office.
Covering much of southwest Washington, the 3rd became an unexpected swing district in 2022. For over a decade, moderate Republican Jamie Hererra Beutler served as U.S. representative for the district. However, her vote to impeach former President Trump after the Jan. 6 insurrection in 2021 earned her enemies among Trump-aligned Republicans, and she faced several challengers from within her own party during the 2022 primary, Kent among them.
In Washington, all candidates compete in a nonpartisan primary and the top two vote-getters advance to the general. When the dust settled in 2022, Kent and Gluesenkamp Perez emerged with the most votes, effectively unseating Herrera Beutler.
Both were political outsiders heading into the primary. Kent was a special forces veteran and Gold Star husband, while Gluesenkamp Perez owned a car repair shop with her husband.
Though the 3rd District had been comfortably Republican under Herrera Beutler, Gluesenkamp Perez managed an upset victory over Kent. She prevailed in November 2022 by a razor-thin margin of just over 2,600 votes.
Well aware of her district’s political makeup, Gluesenkamp Perez has been laser-focused on kitchen table issues during her two years in Congress, often distancing herself from President Joe Biden and the majority of her Democratic colleagues. She has helped to revitalize the Blue Dog Coalition, a group of fiscally conservative Democrats which has historically formed the right wing of the modern Democratic Party in Congress.
Kent has likewise sought to moderate his message somewhat in this 2024 campaign, backtracking on his former support for a national abortion ban. His campaign has focused on the Mexico border, inflation and foreign policy.
The nonpartisan Cook Political Report classified the 3rd District race as a toss-up. Though Gluesenkamp Perez won in 2022, the district has voted for Trump in the past two presidential elections.
Gluesenkamp Perez has gained a significant edge over Kent in fundraising. As of Oct. 30, she had over $1.2 million in cash on hand compared to Kent’s $500,000.