Gluesenkamp Perez Defies Jeffries Again — and Wins a Trump District

Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Wash., is on track to hold her seat, defeating Republican Washington state Sen. John Braun and locking in a third term in the House. The district went for President Donald Trump by roughly 3 percentage points in 2024, making it one of the tougher spots a Democrat has to defend.

The win is a boost for House Democrats as they push to reclaim the majority. It also sets up an awkward two years for party leaders: the same lawmaker who just proved she can survive in Trump country has already shown she'll vote against them when it suits her.

That defiance came twice in September, when Gluesenkamp Perez and Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine, sided with Republicans on procedural votes. Without them, the House GOP agenda would have stalled out. The first vote drew a rare public rebuke from House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., who called it a 'breach of trust,' and some left-wing lawmakers wanted her stripped of her seat on the powerful House Appropriations Committee.

Turns out the rebellion may have been good politics. Washington's 3rd Congressional District stretches across rural areas, the city of Vancouver and smaller coastal towns in the southwest corner of the state — turf where independence from party leadership plays well. She first won the seat by unseating a Republican incumbent.

Her previous two races got an assist from opponent Joe Kent, whose ties to far-right groups raised electability questions. Kent was later named Trump's director of the United States National Counterterrorism Center but resigned over disagreements on Middle East policy. Braun, by contrast, ran as a more mainstream Republican — a former Navy captain who also helps run his family's company, Braun Northwest, which manufactures emergency vehicles.

The matchup wasn't cheap. More than $20 million was spent on the race, according to the Washington Standard, a sign both parties saw it as a linchpin. Democrats keep the seat; Jeffries keeps a colleague who isn't afraid to cross him.