Democratic Rep. Gluesenkamp Perez won in a Trump district. Now she faces an uprising from the left

CENTRALIA, Wash. – Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez gave Democrats a uncommon triumph past autumn erstwhile she defeated a MAGA diehard successful a Republican territory successful southwestern Washington state.

Hailed by immoderate arsenic a exemplary for winning backmost blue-collar voters who abandoned the Democratic Party successful past year's elections, the car repair store proprietor shunned partisanship, refused to prosecute successful civilization wars, and concentrated connected helping radical successful her territory — preserving VA clinics, for example, oregon backing backing for vocational store classes.

Whether the second-term congresswoman's strategy succeeds volition beryllium decided by voters successful adjacent year's midterm elections. But for immoderate progressives successful her district, it is proving inadequate to antagonistic the authoritarian tilt of President Donald Trump’s 2nd word successful the White House.

At 2 municipality halls she hosted recently, crowds shouted questions oregon chanted, “Vote her out!” Many vowed to enactment a much wide superior challenger.

“It’s a truly atrocious clip to beryllium a centrist,” said Liz Oxford, a 39-year-old stay-at-home ma from Centralia. “She conscionable keeps connected coming down arsenic 1 of the fewer Democrats to broadside with Republicans, and that is simply a truly hard happening to judge close now. It’s like, look, you ran arsenic a Democrat, and close present Democrats person to gully a hard line.”

Is she successful danger?

Hundreds of radical showed up astatine her municipality halls past month. Many were furious implicit her caller votes to censure Texas Democratic Rep. Al Green for disrupting Trump’s code to Congress and for a measurement that would require impervious of citizenship to registry to vote.

How good Gluesenkamp Perez, 36, navigates the disapproval could assistance find whether Democrats tin retake the House adjacent year. But successful a mostly rural, reddish district, immoderate accidental a bashing from leftist voters mightiness really assistance her.

“In a territory similar Washington 3, you triumph oregon suffer by being capable to get independents and mean Republicans to transverse implicit the immense chasm that has opened up betwixt the parties and ballot for you,” said Sandeep Kaushik, a Seattle-based governmental advisor who worked connected Gluesenkamp Perez’s archetypal run successful 2022. “And Marie has been astir uniquely palmy successful doing that successful her archetypal 2 campaigns.”

Gluesenkamp Perez is the lone Democrat moving for national oregon statewide bureau to transportation the territory successful astatine slightest a decade, Kaushik noted. Even Democratic Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, erstwhile Gov. Jay Inslee and recently elected Gov. Bob Ferguson failed determination contempt winning large statewide.

Gluesenkamp Perez’s predecessor, six-term Republican Jaime Herrera Beutler, did not marque it retired of the 2022 primary. Right-wing constituents aggravated astir her ballot to impeach Trump formed their batch with Joe Kent, a erstwhile U.S. Army peculiar operations worker who promoted Trump’s prevarication that the 2020 predetermination was stolen and touted conspiracy theories astir the Jan. 6, 2021, battle connected the Capitol by his supporters.

In the wide predetermination that year, Gluesenkamp Perez bushed Kent by little than a percent point, flipping the spot for Democrats.

Heading into a rematch with Kent past fall, she was considered 1 of the astir susceptible members of Congress — but won by astir 4 points and outperformed some Trump and Democratic statesmanlike nominee Kamala Harris.

So far, 1 Democrat, Brent Hennrich, has announced a superior challenge. On his website, the erstwhile movie theatre operations manager who filed to tally this week dismissed Gluesenkamp Perez's moderation arsenic the incorrect attack for the moment.

“With our federation successful crisis, Democrats successful Congress indispensable bash everything successful their powerfulness to artifact the extremist Trump agenda, but our incumbent has been acold excessively consenting to compromise connected bills that endanger our rights, our prosperity, and our health,” Hennrich wrote.

What does she basal for?

Analysts crossed the state person pointed to the congresswoman's nuts-and-bolts attack to governing — what she describes arsenic a “positive argumentation agenda” — arsenic a remedy for Democratic woes. For her, that’s meant securing wealth for store programs astatine vocational colleges, pressing the VA to reopen a session successful Chehalis truthful veterans don’t person to thrust to Olympia, and pushing to let loggers to bladed forests to make jobs and trim wildfire risks.

“Political polarization has been truly destructive to our democracy,” Gluesenkamp Perez told The Associated Press successful an interview. “If you’re trying to physique a argumentation docket that is popular, if you’re trying to physique a bigger consciousness of democracy, it’s not, successful my view, prudent to commencement excluding people. It’s astir gathering a bigger team, conscionable being much utile to much people.”

Constituents crossed the governmental spectrum person praised her enactment connected section issues. But astatine her caller municipality halls, choler implicit immoderate of her votes was obvious.

Those see a ballot for the SAVE Act, which would require impervious of citizenship for anyone registering to vote. Critics telephone it a voter-suppression instrumentality meant to hype the conception that amerciable immigrants ballot successful U.S. elections — an exceptionally uncommon occurrence. The measure could marque it harder for women who person taken their husband’s past sanction oregon transgender radical whose names don't lucifer their commencement certificates to vote.

Gluesenkamp Perez called the measure flawed but said making definite lone citizens ballot is simply a fashionable thought successful her district. She besides said she knew it wouldn't walk successful the Senate.

That enraged Carol Brock, the erstwhile chairwoman of the Lewis County Democrats.

“I’m each for moving crossed the aisle. I unrecorded successful Lewis County — there’s much Republicans present than determination is grass,” Brock said aft the municipality hallway successful Centralia. “It doesn’t mean I springiness up my values. If you don’t judge successful it, wherefore did you ballot for it?”

Tina Podlodowski, the erstwhile three-term seat of the authorities Democratic Party, posted connected Facebook aft the SAVE Act vote, “Democrats tin and indispensable bash amended successful WA3 than Marie Gluesenkamp Perez.”

This week, Pacific County Democrats began considering whether to telephone connected the authorities enactment to refrain from endorsing Gluesenkamp Perez arsenic agelong arsenic different Democrat is challenging her.

Supporters impulse her to prime her battles

Gluesenkamp Perez said she has spoken up against Republicans erstwhile their actions person existent effects connected radical successful her district: cutting backing for National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration buoys relied connected by fishermen, cutting enactment to wildland firefighters, gutting hunger alleviation programs, oregon proposing Medicaid cuts that she said “are going to termination people.”

“There’s a batch of consternation and choler and rage astir things that don’t person the unit of law,” she said. “It’s truly important that we’re not torching societal superior connected things that volition not beryllium experienced by astir radical — oregon immoderate people.”

Perhaps nary 1 has enjoyed the mounting disapproval of Gluesenkamp Perez much than Republicans, who accidental she is being “abandoned” by Democrats.

“Vulnerable Democrat Marie Gluesenkamp Perez is getting primaried and nary one’s shocked,” the National Republican Congressional Committee said successful a statement. “She’s excessively anemic for the acold left, excessively extremist for Washington’s families, she doesn’t beryllium anywhere.”

Some of her supporters accidental Gluesenkamp Perez indispensable prime her battles — and Democrats successful her territory should, too.

“We are cutting our chemoreceptor disconnected to spite our face, to marque statements astir throwing her retired of office,” said Bob Guenther, a Lewis County labour activist. “We’ve got to beryllium thoughtful. We’ve got to flip the Congress oregon we’re successful trouble.”

___

Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This worldly whitethorn not beryllium published, broadcast, rewritten oregon redistributed without permission.