Democratic Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez and Republican state Sen. John Braun met for their final debate before the election in Washington’s 3rd Congressional District. Each sought to portray the other as beholden to interests outside Southwest Washington: Perez accused Braun of supporting President Donald Trump, while Braun said she had become a typical Washington politician.
The candidates criticized the administration’s tariff policy, though they differed in their assessments of its effects. Both expressed doubts about transgender girls participating in girls’ school sports. Braun supported an outright ban, while Perez said such decisions should be left to local authorities. Discussing the war with Iran, Perez called the administration’s actions a disaster. Braun emphasized the need to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon, while also opposing a war without clear objectives and an endgame. After the accident at the Nippon Dynawave facility in Longview, neither candidate proposed specific changes to federal workplace safety regulations.
The election is taking place in one of the country’s most competitive districts. It encompasses mostly rural and coastal areas stretching from the Pacific Ocean to the Cascade Mountains along the Oregon border, but it is politically diverse. The district includes liberal areas around Olympia, Vancouver and college towns, as well as conservative rural communities. Once considered reliably Republican, the district has become less predictable as its demographics have changed, Vancouver’s suburbs have grown and independent voters have shifted. Candidates must now compete not only for their party bases but also for moderate voters.
Perez, a former auto-shop owner, has cultivated an image as an independent Democrat and emphasizes regional issues, including the right of owners to repair their own equipment and the problem of excessive numbers of sea lions in the Columbia River. Sea lions consume significant quantities of migrating salmon and steelhead near dams and at the river’s mouth, raising concerns about declining fish populations. The issue is particularly important to fishermen, tribal communities, fishing businesses, processors and recreational anglers. It is also tied to hydropower and federal salmon-recovery programs, so candidates use it to demonstrate support for the local economy and call for a review of regulations governing protected marine mammals.
Braun, a Navy veteran and longtime state legislator, focuses on fiscal discipline, taxes and his experience managing his family’s emergency-vehicle manufacturing company. Analysts at the Cook Political Report recently changed their rating of the race from “toss-up” to “lean Democratic.”
Some of the sharpest disputes centered on abortion and allegations involving Braun’s company. Perez’s campaign said Braun did not call the son of a worker who died in an incident at the Braun Northwest facility in 2024. Braun rejected the allegation, saying he had spoken with the victim’s son repeatedly and personally brought food to the family.
On abortion, Braun said he personally supports repealing the state’s longstanding law but respects current law and the will of voters. Perez also criticized his vote against a law requiring insurance coverage for contraception. Ballots will begin being mailed Oct. 16, and Election Day is Nov. 3.
Based on: Gluesenkamp Perez, John Braun clash in final debate before election
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