House Dem who defied Hakeem Jeffries scores upset win in pro-Trump district

A Democratic lawmaker who publicly defied House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., twice is projected to beat the odds to win re-election in a district that President Donald Trump carried in 2024.

Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Wash., is on pace to defeat Republican Washington state Sen. John Braun to win a third term in the House of Representatives next year.

It's an important victory for House Democrats in their quest to claw back the majority in Congress, but one that could also create drama for party leaders on key votes over the next two years.

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Gluesenkamp Perez, who has been known to buck her party on votes in the past, infuriated her fellow Democrats twice in September when she sided with Republicans on procedural votes that helped GOP leaders rescue their agenda from conservative rebellions.

If not for her and Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine, siding with Republicans on those two votes, the House GOP's agenda would have been paralyzed.

The first time earned her a rare public rebuke from Jeffries, who called it a "breach of trust." Other left-wing lawmakers called for her to be removed from the powerful House Appropriations Committee over the move.

But one could argue that Gluesenkamp Perez's public defiance of her own party was critical for her political survival. Trump won her district by roughly 3 percentage points in 2024, and she first won her seat by defeating an incumbent House Republican.

Washington's 3rd Congressional District includes rural areas and the city of Vancouver, and smaller coastal towns in the southwest portion of the state.

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Part of what bolstered Gluesenkamp Perez in her previous two races was her opponent, Joe Kent, suffering from electability issues because of his association with far-right groups. He was later named Trump's director of the United States National Counterterrorism Center, but resigned over disagreements on Middle East policy.

This time, however, the race was expected to be much closer, with Braun running as a more mainstream GOP candidate.

Braun is a former Navy captain who also helps run his family's company, Braun Northwest, a manufacturer of emergency vehicles.

More than $20 million was spent on their race, according to the Washington Standard, a sign of its critical position for both parties.