Two House incumbents seek to woo the other party’s voters in Pacific Northwest swing seats

Democrat Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington and Republican Lori Chavez-DeRemer of Oregon are defending seats that could be key to deciding control of the House.

Dozens of families lined up outside the Clark County Fairgrounds here on a recent Saturday, their young kids eager to ride on tractors, toss balls into massive vacuum truck hoses and add new stickers to their tiny construction hats. Democratic Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez stood before the crowd with her husband, Dean, and young son, ready to cut the caution tape-style ribbon that would signal the start of Dozer Days. “I don’t know about you guys, but we have been talking about how many sleeps until Dozer Days for about a month,” she said into a bullhorn at the recent campaign stop. “Thank you all for being part of a culture that believes in making stuff, and being proud of who we are as the best tradespeople in the world.” The construction-themed event is designed to introduce young children to careers as journeymen linemen fixing electrical lines or vacuum truck operators cleaning storm drains – the exact kinds of jobs Gluesenkamp Perez has advocated during her first term in Congress representing this rural district in southwest Washington, even if it has meant pushing back on Democratic efforts to cancel debt for college students. As Gluesenkamp Perez faces a rematch against far-right Republican Joe Kent in one of the most competitive races in the country, focusing on this corner of the Evergreen State and its issues could be the key to holding on to a district that Donald Trump carried by 4 points in 2020 and is likely to win again this November. Washington’s 3rd Congressional District is one of 21 “crossover” seats whose House representative is of the opposing party to the presidential candidate who carried the district four years ago. Those seats – five held by Democrats and 16 by Republicans – will likely determine which party controls the House, where Republicans hold a slim majority. Two of those seats are here in the Pacific Northwest: South of Gluesenkamp Perez’s district, another freshman congresswoman, Republican Lori Chavez-DeRemer, is seeking reelection in a seat that backed Joe Biden by 8 points in 2020.