With control of the U.S. House at stake on Nov. 3, few races are being watched as closely as the contest in southwest Washington’s 3rd Congressional District, which stretches from the Portland suburbs of Vancouver to timber towns and the Pacific coast.
Democratic Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez captured the seat in 2022 in a district that has backed Donald Trump in three presidential elections, and she held it in 2024. Her challenger is Republican state Sen. John Braun, the Senate minority leader, who owns an emergency vehicle manufacturing company and has Trump’s endorsement. The two advanced from the Aug. 4 top-two primary.

A race too close to call
Election forecasters rate the race anywhere from a toss-up to leaning Democratic, according to Ballotpedia. A summer poll by the Northwest Progressive Institute put Braun at 45% and Gluesenkamp Perez at 44%, with 11% undecided. The seat is one of 23 Democratic-held House districts that Trump won in 2024.

Both candidates present themselves as moderates, small-business owners and residents of rural towns, and both emphasize manufacturing jobs, natural resources and support for small firms. Braun has distanced himself from Trump on trade, arguing that “indiscriminate” tariffs have raised costs for manufacturers. Gluesenkamp Perez, meanwhile, has angered some Democrats in fast-growing, increasingly progressive Clark County with votes for Republican-backed bills, including the SAVE Act on voter identification.
Rising housing costs in Vancouver and the decline of the region’s timber industry are among the local issues shaping the race.