Democratic Representative Marie Gluesenkamp Perez from Washington and her Republican challenger Joe Kent have advanced to the general election runoff in Washington’s congressional primary on August 6th. Gluesenkamp Perez, a first-term member, is considered to be one of the House Democrats most at risk in the upcoming 2024 election. She represents a Republican-leaning district in southwest Washington.
In 2022, Gluesenkamp Perez successfully flipped the district after the incumbent Republican representative, Jamie Herrara Beutler, was criticized by former President Donald Trump and finished third in the primary election. Beutler had voted to impeach Trump for the events of January 6, 2021.
Washington State utilizes a nonpartisan blanket primary system, where all candidates compete on the same ballot, regardless of party affiliation. The top two candidates from the primary election proceed to the general election.
The current race stands in stark contrast to two years ago, as expressed by Joe Kent in a statement to The Epoch Times. He highlights the notable differences and critiques Gluesenkamp Perez’s stance on Second Amendment rights, women’s sports, as well as local issues like infrastructure and forests.
The primary election also saw Republican candidate Camas City Councillor Leslie Lewallen receive 12.4 percent of the vote, while independent candidate John Saulie-Rohman gained 2.3 percent.
Kent received an endorsement from former President Donald Trump on July 28th.
Gluesenkamp Perez’s campaign has not yet responded to requests for comment.
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