Rep. Marie Glusenkamp-Perez (D-WA) brought in about 46.86% of the vote in Tuesday's Washington state primary , where she faced off against second-place finisher Republican Joe Kent.
Glusenkamp-Perez is considered a centrist Democrat who caucuses with the House's Blue Dog Coalition, which includes co-chairs Mary Peltola (D-AK) and Jared Golden (D-ME) among others. Her victory on Tuesday was a good sign, but warning signs remain beneath the surface.
The centrist Democrat took a shot at her opponent overnight in a post touting her primary victory. Washington has an open primary contest, where all candidates run against each other and the top two vote-getters move on to the general election.
"Tonight's results are in, and we've won our top-two primary election by a wide margin," she posted on X. "Thank you, Southwest Washington," Glusenkamp-Perez said before writing extensively on why voters should choose her this November.
"Far-right weirdo Joe Kent is back, and the sequel is worse than the original. His extreme politics have a clear goal: divide us and break America. I'm the one thing standing between Joe Kent and Congress, and this election is a toss-up. But together we’ll beat Joe Kent — again," she said.
November's contest could be a replay of 2022. Kent nearly beat Glusenkamp-Perez in the general election after finishing roughly 8 points behind her in the primary 31%-22.8%.
Like in 2022, Kent had a tougher field to clear than Glusenkamp-Perez as Republicans scramble to try and knock off unsuspecting Democrats around the state. Last cycle, Kent split the GOP votes primarily with Jaime Herrera Beutler (22.3%) and Heidi St. John (15%). Last night, Leslie Lewallen took 12.4% of the votes cast.
As an incumbent, Glusenkamp-Perez had no Democratic challenger.
Following her comfortable victory over Kent in the primary, Glusenkamp-Perez barely held him off in the general election, squeaking by him 50.1%-49.3%.
She's one of the most vulnerable Democrat incumbents — the Cook Political Report rates her race as a toss-up , and Decision Desk HQ gives Kent a 68% chance of winning. Glusenkamp-Perez has responded to the close race by playing to the center as much as possible, even declining to endorse Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris.
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The Washington Democrat responded to House Speaker Mike Johnson's (R-LA) celebratory statement for Kent on Wednesday with a humorous quip.
"I think you should Google him first," she said. "He keeps losing to me, among other issues."
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