Marie Gluesenkamp Perez co-owns an auto repair shop in Skamania County, Washington. This is not a metaphor or a campaign prop — it’s her actual life, and it’s the reason she won southwest Washington’s congressional district in 2022 against Joe Kent, a far-right Republican who had defeated the incumbent in the primary. She won again in 2024 by nearly 4 points against Kent in a rematch, in a district Trump carried. Twice.
Washington’s 3rd covers the southwestern corner of the state — Clark County’s Vancouver suburbs, the Lewis and Cowlitz County timber and industrial communities, and the rural expanse along the Columbia River. It is culturally closer to rural Oregon and Idaho than to Seattle. The district voted for Obama and then flipped to Trump, following the same pattern as hundreds of rural and small-city districts across the American interior.
Why She Wins
Gluesenkamp Perez’s theory of the case is simple and rare: she actually lives the life of her constituents. She talks about supply chains because she deals with supply chains when ordering parts for the shop. She talks about diesel prices because she fills up diesel trucks. She talks about apprenticeship programs because she’s trained mechanics. Her credibility on rural economic issues is not constructed for a campaign — it’s embedded in her biography.
She has also been unusually willing to criticize her own party, publicly arguing that Democrats have become too distant from working-class rural communities and need to change their messaging and priorities if they want to compete outside metropolitan areas. That willingness to speak uncomfortable truths about Democratic positioning has given her a media profile that makes her one of the most interesting House members in the caucus.
The Joe Kent Problem (Solved, Twice)
Republicans have run Joe Kent against her twice — a far-right candidate with strong MAGA credentials but a tendency toward controversial statements that made him a difficult general election candidate. If Republicans nominate Kent a third time, Gluesenkamp Perez likely has a path similar to 2022 and 2024. A different Republican recruit — someone with Clark County business ties and a more conventional conservative profile — could be a significantly harder challenge.
What to Watch
Whether Republicans learn from their last two cycles and recruit a different type of candidate. A businessman or local official from Clark County who doesn’t carry Kent’s baggage would run a very different race, and Clark County’s population weight within the district means a candidate with genuine credibility there could offset Gluesenkamp Perez’s rural advantage.