PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Southwest Washington has a new representative in Congress but as she gets to work, her former opponent is gearing up for another fight in 2024.
The hard-fought battle over southwest Washington’s 3rd District, ended with a victory by Democrat Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, in a seat previously held by longtime Republican Jaime Herrera Beutler, ousted during the primary.
“We were able to retain some of Jaime’s staff and they’re excellent,” Rep. Gluesenkamp Perez said. “These are people that are really committed to southwest Washington and they know the ropes.”
Rep. Gluesenkamp Perez said she made it a point to hire a bipartisan staff.
“I hired Democrats and Republicans in my office because I believe iron sharpens iron, right?” Rep. Glusenkamp Perez mused. “You want ideas to challenge each other to get the best ones to come forward.”
Serving the Forestry subcommittee and as a ranking member of the Small Business subcommittee, she said she plans to use that work for the biggest issues facing the district.
“We don’t care about these 15 votes for the speaker, right?” Rep. Glusenkamp Perez asked. “We care about, do we have schools that work, are our streets safe, my catalytic converter getting stolen, those nuts and bolts issues.”
Meanwhile, her opponent in the 2022 election, Republican and former Green Beret Joe Kent is already gearing up for another fight, announcing he plans to rerun for the district in 2024.
“We got really close last time,” Kent said. “It was a tightly-contested race and we lost by less than a percentage point so we just figured we’d waste no time and get right back after it.”
KOIN 6 News asked Kent what issues southwest Washington is currently facing, that he would work on in Congress.
“Right now, it’s hard to get around what’s affecting everyone’s lives and that’s the inflation everyone is experiencing. Our country is in a financial crisis. We can call it a recession, but it’s a borderline depression right now.”
He added other issues like border security and crime and said while he’s watching Gluesenkamp Perez’s moves in Congress, he’s also looking ahead to meeting with voters who may not have cast their ballot for him back in November.
“I have a lot of work to do with reaching out to Republicans who may have been loyal to the last Republican who was in office.”