Perez-Kent rematch set for this fall

Published 6:09 pm Monday, August 12, 2024

A long-expected rematch became official last week, as U.S. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez will again face off against Joe Kent in this fall’s general election for the right to represent southwest Washington in Congress.

As of Monday, Aug. 12, Perez (D-Skamania) currently leads in the primary with 45.9% of the vote while Kent, a Clark County Republican, sits in second with 39.3%. Further back in third is Leslie Lewallen, a Republican from Camas, with 12.2%, while independent candidate John Saulie-Rohman holds 2.5%.

Perez narrowly came out on top two years ago when she beat Kent by less than 1% in the general election to win the race for Washington’s Third Congressional District. While Perez’s victory surprised election handicappers in 2022 — there was little outside spending from national Democrats and Republicans because Kent was widely expected to win — this year’s matchup will be one of the most closely watched House races in the country and is sure to lead to millions of dollars being spent on television advertising and voter outreach between now and Election Day.

In just Pacific County, Perez leads in the primary with 49.7% of the vote while Kent sits at 39.9%. In the general election two years ago, Perez won the county with 50.9% while Kent received 48.8%.

Cantwell to face Garcia

In the race for the U.S. Senate, incumbent Sen. Maria Cantwell, a Democrat, will face off against Republican Raul Garcia, a physician from Yakima.

Cantwell, who was first elected to her seat in 2000, currently leads a large primary field with 57.5% while Garcia sits in second with 22%. No other candidate has more than 6% of the vote.

In Pacific County, Cantwell leads with 49.6% while Garcia has 19.5%. In the 2018 general election, Cantwell’s most recent race, she narrowly won the county with 50.9% of the vote against her Republican challenger.

Other statewide contestsNearly 30 people filed to run for governor this year, but two candidates clearly distanced themselves from the rest of the field and will advance to this fall’s general election after three-term Gov. Jay Inslee declined to seek another four years in office.

Three-term state attorney general Bob Ferguson, a Democrat, leads all candidates with 45.2% of the vote. He will face off against former U.S. Rep. Dave Reichert, a Republican, who holds 27.4% of the vote. Semi Bird, the former Richland school board member who was endorsed by the Washington State Republican Party, is the only other candidate in the race with more than 10% of the vote — he sits at 10.6% — while state Sen. Mark Mullet (D-Issaquah) is in fourth with 6.1%.

In Pacific County, Ferguson leads with 36.6% while Reichert is in second with 31.7%.

In the race to succeed Ferguson as attorney general, Pasco mayor and attorney Pete Serrano, a Republican, leads statewide with 41.8% of the vote. He will be joined in the general election by Democrat Nick Brown, the former U.S. Attorney for Western Washington, who has 35.5% of the vote. State Sen. Manka Dhingra (D-Redmond) is in third with 22.6%.

In Pacific County, Serrano leads with 51.4% while Brown has 30.8% and Dhingra 17.8%.

And in the race to follow Hilary Franz as the next commissioner of public lands, former U.S. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler leads a crowded field with 21.9% of the vote. She is narrowly ahead of King County Councilor Dave Upthegrove, a Democrat, who sits at 21%, and Sue Kuehl Pederson, a Republican who ran for the position in 2020, who has 20.7%.

Herrera Beutler holds a bigger lead in Pacific County, at 34.3%, while Pederson is in second with 22.9%. Upthegrove is in third with 10.9%.

19th Legislative District

All three 19th Legislative Districts are up for election this year, but only one of the contests drew more than two candidates in the primary — the seat held by state Rep. Joel McEntire (R-Cathlamet).

McEntire leads in his primary with 58.4% of the vote, ahead of Longview Democrat Terry Carlson’s 38.1%. South Bend resident Justin Franks, running as a Libertarian, is in third with 3.4%.

In the other 19th District races, state Rep. Jim Walsh (R-Aberdeen) will face off against Westport Democrat Mike Coverdale, while state Sen. Jeff Wilson (R-Longview) will take on Seaview’s Andi Day, running as a Democrat.