Washington state Democrat who flipped pro-Trump district faces tough primary

Incumbent Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, a moderate who owns an auto repair shop, hopes to retain congressional seat The two-term Democratic congresswoman Marie Gluesenkamp Perez is heading into one of the country’s most closely watched contests on Tuesday after national recognition for flipping a Republican seat in 2022. Representing Washington state’s third district, Gluesenkamp Perez finds herself squeezed between the Democrat and progressive Brent Hennrich and the Republican state senator John Braun on her right. There are six other candidates on a single crowded ballot and the top two finishers will advance to the November general election regardless of party. Democrats are favored to win the House of Representatives in November’s midterm election, but highly contested seats such as Gluesenkamp Perez’s will be crucial to securing a majority, and expanding the margin. Republican Jaime Herrera Beutler won Washington’s third district in 2010 and held it for six terms, until Gluesenkamp Perez narrowly beat Trump-endorsed Joe Kent in 2022. Trump has carried the district in all three of his presidential runs, most recently by about three points, and yet in 2024 Gluesenkamp Perez ran rough