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U.S. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, right, hugs a supporter at her election night party held at the Hilton in Vancouver, Wash., Nov. 5, 2024.
Emily Hamilton / OPB
Multiple Northwest media organizations declared U.S. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Skamania, the winner of Washington’s 3rd Congressional District on Thursday night following the latest release of counted votes.
The victory — along with a potential flip from Republican control in Oregon’s 5th Congressional District — is critical for Democrats, who lost control of the presidency and U.S. Senate on Election Day and have narrowing chances of gaining control of the U.S. House. Gluesenkamp Perez has long criticized her party as being out of step with districts like hers, which saw a majority of counties vote for president-elect Donald Trump at the same time they sent her back for a second term in Congress.
The latest results Thursday showed Republican Joe Kent making little progress in closing a gap that’s existed since Election Day. As of Thursday evening, Gluesenkamp Perez held 51% of the vote while Kent trailed at 48%. Both The Columbian and The Oregonian/OregonLive declared the contest over following the latest results.
Gluesenkamp Perez thanked her constituents in a written statement, saying she was “humbled” by the show of support.
“Some far-away pundits and prognosticators swore I would lose this reelection campaign from the moment I took office,” she wrote. “But like two years ago, pundits made a fundamental mistake by viewing this race through a partisan lens. Our community has never seen ourselves this way.”
Gluesenkamp Perez’s success is evidence of the moderate Democrat’s strong connection to Southwest Washington communities, an extensive get-out-the-vote campaign, and her willingness to work across party lines in Congress.
“Her voting record, her rhetoric, who she meets with — which is pretty much anybody that will meet with her from her district — all are ways for her to say, ‘I care about the whole district,” said Mark Stephan, a professor of political science at Washington State University’s Vancouver campus. “Democrats need that because otherwise in rural areas, there’s a certain distrustfulness.”
U.S. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, left, takes a selfie with a supporter at her election night party held at the Hilton in Vancouver, Wash., Nov. 5, 2024.
Emily Hamilton / OPB
That strategy helped Gluesenkamp Perez in her bid to hold onto a seat she flipped in 2022. The district is largely made up of counties that voted for President-elect Donald Trump this year.
During an election night party in Vancouver on Tuesday, Gluesenkamp Perez emphasized her campaign’s focus on bread-and-butter economic issues that affect the lives of residents of Southwest Washington over culture war topics.
“It is possible to take a different path. Step away from the national talking points and the hyper-partisanship, and run a campaign based on respect for working people and the issues that directly impact us here at home,” Gluesenkamp Perez told supporters.
In an effort to distance herself from potentially polarizing issues, Gluesenkamp Perez did not endorse Vice President Kamala Harris or other Democrats in Southwest Washington. At the federal level, she sometimes split with her party, voting against student debt forgiveness and showing support for Israel. While those votes frustrated some Democrats, it showed her independence.
“She won. She knows her district better than anybody else, and so we have to let her lead,” said Shasti Conrad, chair of the Washington state Democrats.
Kent ran a campaign more focused on national priorities of the Republican Party, including securing the southern border, reducing inflation, and achieving energy independence.
In the weeks leading up to the election, Kent — a former Green Beret who lives in the town of Yacolt — received support from a number of prominent Republicans hoping to help flip the district back to GOP control.
As of Thursday night, Republicans were closing in on control of the U.S. House of Representatives, but 24 seats remained without a clear winner.
“I will continue working with Republicans in Congress and here at home to deliver results and get things done for Southwest Washington,” Gluesenkamp Perez said in her victory statement. “I will always be the person I was raised to be, someone who works to fix things, not break them.”