While the House of Representatives is reportedly swinging to red from blue, a Democrat and political newcomer has claimed the Republican-held seat in Washington state not far from the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site.
Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, a Democrat who owns an auto repair shop with her husband, claimed 50.2% of the vote in this month’s general election for the state’s third congressional district, beating out Joe Kent, a former U.S. Army Ranger backed by former President Donald Trump, by 3,000 votes, according to the Washington Secretary of State’s office.
The Secretary of State figures were last updated yesterday, Nov. 16. The Associated Press called the race for Gluesenkamp Perez over the weekend, according to Washington news reports.
Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-Wash.), the incumbent and member of the House Appropriations Committee, one of 10 House GOP members who voted to impeach Trump following the Jan. 6 insurrection, was eliminated in an August primary. Herrera Beutler, who often voted with fellow GOP appropriator Dan Newhouse on Hanford funding issues, finished third in the primary behind Gluesenkamp Perez and Kent.
Although Newhouse also voted to impeach Trump, he survived a multi-party primary and won the general election easily over a Democratic challenger.
The third congressional district borders Newhouse’s fourth
