A longer version of this article was originally published by the Washington State Standard.
John Braun, the top Republican in the Washington state Senate, launched his campaign Tuesday to unseat Democratic U.S. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez next year.
Braun, Senate minority leader since 2020, will take on the two-term incumbent in southwest Washington’s 3rd Congressional District, which has drawn national attention as an electoral battleground that helps decide which party controls the U.S. House.
“I think the incumbent is genuine and good at press releases but hasn’t really done much to improve the lives of residents in southwest Washington,” Braun, of Centralia, told the Standard on Tuesday.
The district encompasses Clark, Cowlitz, Lewis, Pacific, Wahkiakum and Skamania counties and a small part of Thurston County.
President Donald Trump won it three times, including last year. But Republicans lost the congressional seat in 2022 when Gluesenkamp Perez, co-owner of an auto repair and machine shop, beat Republican Joe Kent, a former Army Special Forces soldier whom Trump backed.
Braun, now in his fourth term as a state senator, brings legislative experience, electoral know-how and a brand of Republicanism he hopes will appeal to independent and GOP voters who shunned Kent.
Asked whether he has Trump’s backing, Braun said there is “a clear path to earning the president’s support. We’ve got to do the work first.”
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee swiftly blasted Braun’s entrance into the race.
“Voters know Braun is nothing more than a suit in Olympia who works for special interests like Big Pharma, not for working people,” said DCCC spokesperson Lindsay Reilly. “He’s a swamp creature who will be more of the same in D.C., championing the status quo.”
Washington State Democratic Party Chair Shasti Conrad said Braun would be a “disastrous choice” to represent the district.
Gluesenkamp Perez raised just over $900,000 in the most recent three-month period and had $1.1 million on hand on June 30, according to her latest filings with the Federal Election Commission. First-time candidate Antony Barran, owner of Willapa Wild, an oyster farm in Willapa Bay, raised $10,000 in his first three months campaigning.
In the 2024 election, outside forces spent roughly $18.5 million independent of the candidates, according to Open Secrets.
The Washington State Standard originally ran a longer version of this article on Aug. 12, 2025. Cascade PBS has edited this article for length.
