Questions for candidates: Joe Kent

Editor’s Note: Washington’s 3rd Congressional District was held for the past decade-plus by Republican Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler. That was until she voted to impeach former President Donald Trump. Republican Joe Kent and Democrat Marie Gluesenkamp were each able to pull votes from the congresswoman’s political flanks and unseat her in the primary. Now, they face off in the midterms. OPB reached out to both candidates to get their views on issues that are top of mind for voters this November. Here are the responses from Kent.

Update: After publication of Kent’s answers, the Gluesenkamp Perez informed OPB that although she was erroneously registered to vote in Oregon, she informed the state elections office of her Washington residency and will not be receiving an Oregon ballot.

How accessible do you find voting in Washington?

It is easy to vote in Washington State, but reforms are needed to ensure that only people eligible to vote are doing so.

Do you believe there was widespread fraud in the 2020 presidential election?

There are real problems with how elections operate in this country, and that has undermined the public’s confidence in electoral results.

For example, my opponent, Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, is going to receive a ballot at her home in Washington State from both Oregon and Washington because she’s registered as an “active” voter in both states. How many other Americans are receiving erroneous ballots?

It’s important for Congress to exercise its constitutional oversight authority to investigate irregularities such as this. Doing so will make Americans more confident in elections, increase civic engagement, and restore faith in our democracy.

What is one policy you’d advocate for in Congress to reduce the effects of inflation in your district?

The inflation that has stolen over an entire month’s pay from every working family is a result of Democrats having one-party control over our nation’s economic policy. Gas prices are reaching record highs because Biden and Pelosi have turned our energy independent nation into one that begs Saudi Arabia and Venezuela for fuel. And the downward pressure on wages from slave labor in China and illegal and H1B visa labor here at home is pushing the middle class into poverty.

The inflation itself is driven by printing money to finance Biden and Pelosi’s agenda, all while going deeper in debt to China.

Fighting inflation, renewing energy independence, and a real increase in middle-class wages starts with electing Republicans like me who will oppose Biden and Pelosi’s out of control spending, reopen our domestic energy production, and use economic sticks and carrots to bring good paying jobs and rising wages back to the US.

What are the biggest impacts of climate change on Southwest Washington, and what actions would you take in office to address them?

There is no place in the world that produces the energy we need in a cleaner, more environmentally friendly way than the United States.

Unfortunately, the Biden Administration has crippled America’s domestic energy production, increasing our reliance on dirty producers like Venezuela, Iran, and Russia. This kills American jobs, enriches bad actors who hate us, and puts more pollution into the environment.

We will have a cleaner environment by returning production to the US and, in the long term, bootstrapping the transition to alternatives like nuclear power.

How do you envision you can best help the economy in Southwest Washington, particularly as it relates to natural resources and extractive industries (e.g. commercial fishing and logging)?

What we’ve learned from out-of-control forest fires and a devastated fishing industry is that Washington D.C. does a poor job managing our natural resources. Democrats’ desire to have Beltway bureaucrats control state-level decision-making is wrong. Washingtonians should make policy for Washington State.

Environmental regulations and federal land management that has failed to clear underbrush and deadwood puts our homes, our lives, and the environment at catastrophic risks of forest fires every year. Loggers know how to manage forests. Fishers know how to manage fish stocks. Instead of trying to punish them, like the current administration, Congress must empower local stakeholders to make decisions that will protect our natural resources, while simultaneously ensuring the growth of industry. Loggers and fishers have a vested interest in conservation, and need someone in Congress who will listen to them. I will be that person.

Our state’s Department of Fish and Wildlife’s incorrect estimate about the salmon run and the Federal Government’s refusal to take serious steps to fight the invasion of sea lions further up the Columbia, Cowlitz, and Chehalis rivers has both devastated our local fishing industry and harmed the survival of the salmon.

Specific solutions include inviting either state or private agencies to clear at-risk wood from the federal land, expanding hunting permits and providing bounties to seal hunters, and requiring local oversight over the regulatory calendar for salmon fishing.

But what these issues ultimately require is a member of Congress who will lead on the ground and aggressively pressure stakeholders at the state and federal level to solve these problems. I will be that member.

What do you think Congress’s role is, if any, in addressing gun violence in America? Do you support any legislation that would regulate the public’s access to firearms?

I disagree with my opponent’s call for new gun control limiting citizens’ access to firearms.

The Second Amendment is a foundational principle in our country, and I oppose any effort to further restrict firearm ownership.

Part of the solution to gun violence in schools and other “soft targets” is to expand federal programs to train responsible individuals in those environments to take defensive action. While what happened in Uvalde, Texas, is an embarrassing tragedy, there have been many cases where armed school administrators or teachers were able to successfully prevent those incidents from occurring.

Southwest Washington has been a frequent site for political extremism in recent years. Why do you think that is, and what is Congress’ role in addressing it?

Local Democrat leaders who have endorsed my opponent have enabled violent domestic terrorists groups like ANTIFA to operate freely through lax law enforcement and prosecutorial discretion.

It has also been reported and documented that my opponent advertised free repairs to the kind of equipment ANTIFA was using to battle police at the height of their destructive and violent rampage in Portland that spilled over into Clark County.

In Congress, I will use the spending and oversight powers we have to re-allocate federal resources away from prosecuting parents who protest school boards, and instead prosecute ANTIFA for the criminals they are.

Do you believe Congress should take action on abortion access following the overturning of Roe v. Wade? What action should they take?

The Supreme Court’s ruling has determined this issue is going to be addressed at the state level. I believe that the federal government must ensure a nationwide respect for life. We must expand the child tax credit to ensure that families with children can support them. Congress must also increase access to maternal and pediatric healthcare, especially for low-income families, thereby ensuring the best possible outcomes for mothers and newborns alike.

I am pro-life, though I believe that when a mother’s life is at risk, doctors should be allowed to triage the patients to save her. In Congress, I will oppose giving tax dollars to Planned Parenthood and will introduce legislation to expand the child tax credit.

While voters in our district may have respectful disagreements on the issue of abortion, my opponent’s position of taxpayer funding for abortion through the ninth month of pregnancy is far out of the mainstream, a position too radical even for many who consider themselves pro-choice.