OLYMPIA, WA – 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 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. 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 who Trump backed.
It was one of that year’s biggest ballot upsets and thinned the ranks of Republicans in Washington’s 12-member congressional delegation from three to two.
Gluesenkamp Perez defeated Kent in their rematch last year while in the presidential race, Trump soundly beat Democrat Kamala Harris in the congressional district.
Braun, a Centralia resident 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.
But he must mend fences with certain supporters. Some of them weren’t happy that the Senate Republican Campaign Committee, under Braun’s guidance, recruited and backed candidates in legislative races in 2024 that were not on board with the MAGA agenda.
In a tacit acknowledgement, Braun seemed to make a move in their direction with his recent boisterous defense of Trump’s signature policy for tax cuts and spending reforms. This after he and the caucus had been intentional in their efforts to distance themselves from their party’s actions in the other Washington.
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 he would be a “disastrous choice” to represent the district.
In announcing his campaign, Braun said he’d secured the endorsements of both U.S. Rep. Michael Baumgartner, R-Spokane, and former Clark County state senator and Clark County Republican Party Chair Lynda Wilson.
“He understands the unique character of southwest Washington and the values we hold dear,” Wilson said. “I trust him to fight for us.”
Braun, 58, was elected to the state Senate in 2012 in the 20th Legislative District that covers most of Lewis and Cowlitz counties, the northern tip of Clark County and a southern section of Thurston County.
He has been reelected three times and ran unopposed last November. He does not need to give up his seat in the Legislature to run for Congress.
In Braun’s first term, Republicans gained control of the state Senate after two Democrats joined the 23 GOP members to form a majority coalition. This lasted for roughly five years.
In his second term, he served as chair of the Senate Ways and Means Committee. That made him one of the lead authors of the state’s 2017-19 operating budget. He’s been a consistent voice on spending and tax reforms and improving the state’s funding and delivery of special education services to students.
As Senate Minority Leader, the caucus has lost one seat and is now outnumbered by Democrats 30-19.
That setback came last year when Democrat Adrian Cortes defeated Republican Brad Benton in the 18th Legislative District in southwest Washington. Braun drew the ire of Benton backers because, in the primary, his caucus’ political arm put its support and nearly $400,000 behind another candidate, state Rep. Greg Cheney.
This showdown in the 3rd Congressional District will be an expensive campaign.
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. That gives her a huge advantage over Braun, who is starting from scratch.
First-time candidate Antony Barran, owner of Willapa Wild, an oyster farm in Willapa Bay, raised $10,000 in his first three months campaigning.
Democratic and Republican caucus organizations, and an array of political committees, will spend a lot in this contest. In the 2024 election, outside forces spent roughly $18.5 million independent of the candidates, according to Open Secrets.
Braun is president of Braun Northwest, a family-owned company specializing in building emergency vehicles at a facility in Chehalis. The Braun family lives on a small farm in rural Lewis County, outside Centralia.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
Washington State Standard is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Washington State Standard maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Bill Lucia for questions: info@washingtonstatestandard.com.
