The race for representative from Washington’s 3rd Congressional District comes down to basic questions about democracy. The Columbian’s Editorial Board recommends a vote to reelect Democrat Marie Gluesenkamp Perez.
As always, this is merely a recommendation, designed to provide information and foster discussion. That discussion, in this case, should include a realistic examination of the candidates rather than the rhetorical hyperbole that is saturating media outlets.
During her first term in Congress, Perez has staked out a political middle ground that reflects her rural roots and represents the needs of her district. “We want our values in D.C., not the other way around,” she said during an interview with the Editorial Board. “I’m really proud to have done exactly what I said I would, which is fight for our values.”
For Perez, who lives in rural Skamania County and owns a Portland auto repair shop with her husband, those values include support for small businesses, agricultural interests and laborers who work in the trades.
That focus has led Perez to often break ranks with her party. According to GovTrack.us, she is the fifth-most conservative Democrat in the House of Representatives. According to Politico, she has “an eclectic voting record” that has “riled the left flank of her party.”
Painting Perez as a left-wing extremist, as Republican challenger Joe Kent has attempted to do, is an absurd characterization that has no foundation in the facts.
But voters in the 3rd District have grown accustomed to Kent’s detachment from reality. He spent his 2022 campaign for Congress repeating Donald Trump’s lies about a stolen election, and he has claimed that people jailed for attacking the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, are “political prisoners.”
In this year’s campaign, Kent has toned down that rhetoric, but his history of working to undermine democracy and dining with white supremacists is disturbing.
“This is the same extremist that we rejected two years ago,” Perez told the Editorial Board. “He is here to fight a culture war; I am here to fight for our communities.”
That dichotomy is evident in their opinions on abortion rights. In the past, Kent has advocated for a national abortion ban, an issue he now says is up to the states. Perez is a strong supporter of reproductive rights.
Ideally, Kent would be available to answer questions about his beliefs. But his persistent refusal to meet with the Editorial Board demonstrates a fear of accountability and an unwillingness to defend his positions.
Perez, on the other hand, effectively explains her votes in Congress. For example, she was one of two Democrats to vote against a Biden administration proposal to forgive student debt, saying that it would impact few people in her district: “This was not a bill written with us in mind.”
While those issues matter to the people of Southwest Washington, they should be secondary to the defense of democracy. Perez defends the decisions of the people in her district and beyond; Kent has supported those who attempted to overthrow the government.
Because of that fundamental difference and because of her attention to the needs of the 3rd District, the Editorial Board recommends Perez for reelection.
