Marie Gluesenkamp Perez evaluates a part that requires maintenance at Dean's Car Care, an auto-repair shop located in NE Portland which she co-owns with her husband on June 30, 2022. Gluesenkamp-Perez, a Democrat, is a candidate for Washington's 3rd Congressional District.
Jenna Deml / OPB
A month after winning the Southwest Washington congressional primary on a shoestring budget, the fundraising dollars now seem to be flowing freely for Marie Gluesenkamp Perez.
The Democratic candidate reportedly raised more than $600,000 in August, her campaign said in a press release Friday morning. The haul follows her first-place finish in the primary for Washington’s 3rd Congressional District, which set the stage for a November clash with Trump-endorsed Republican Joe Kent.
Perez, who lives in Skamania County and owns an auto shop, also reported the dollars have come from a “donor base that includes a growing number of moderate Republican and Independent donors.”
“These results are incredibly encouraging and show that people are tired of extremists hijacking Washington,” Perez said in a prepared statement. “They want their representative to understand their everyday challenges and are willing to work with anyone to solve them.”
A major question heading into the general election involves the voting preference of Independents and Republicans who may not support the Trump-wing of the GOP, with which Kent has fiercely aligned himself.
About 49,000 voters supported U.S. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler in the primary — roughly 22.28% of voters in that contest — after she voted to impeach Trump in 2021 following the Jan. 6 Capitol riots. That landed her a third-place finish and ended her six-term tenure in Washington D.C.
Months before the riots, Trump carried the district by 5 points in the 2020 Presidential Election. Herrera Beutler, meanwhile, defeated her Democratic challenger in that race by roughly 13 points.
Perez, 34, sailed to the top spot in August largely by monopolizing the district’s Democrats. Fellow Democrat Brent Hennrich dropped out of the race before the primary to clear her path. Perez went on to garner 68,190 votes, or around 31%.
Kent, a former Green Beret and gold star husband, edged Herrera Beutler for second place by landing 50,000 votes — a 22.78% share.
Many political prognosticators believe Perez faces an uphill battle. In sheer voting totals, Republicans vastly outweighed Democrats. Besides Kent and Herrera Beutler, Christian podcaster and public speaker Heidi St. John netted 16%.
The Cook Political Report says the district “leans Republican” and Larry Sabato’s Crystal Ball, a website at the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics, says it’s “likely Republican.” Those prognostications could mean that fundraising will be critical to any Democratic efforts to flip the district.
Besides their new fundraising spree, Perez’s campaign on Friday touted internal polling that they think suggests a much closer race.
The poll, conducted in late August by Expedition Strategies and first reported by Politico, suggests Perez is leading in the race 47% to Kent’s 45%. Kent had stronger name recognition — about 75% of respondents were aware of him — but 39% viewed him as unfavorable.
Perez has frequently labeled Kent an extremist. The far-right candidate entered the race explicitly to punish Herrera Beutler for voting to impeach Trump, he told OPB in February 2021. He has campaigned with U.S. Reps. Matt Gaetz, R-Florida, and Marjorie Taylor-Greene, R-Georgia.
Kent’s platform includes denying and relitigating the results of the 2020 Presidential Election, withdrawing troops from foreign conflicts and clamping down on immigration into the United States.