Southwest Washington’s representative in Congress will hold a trio of campaign events in Pacific County next week, including two on the Long Beach Peninsula, as the march toward the November general election continues.

U.S. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-Skamania) will hold a pair of events next Tuesday, Sept. 3, beginning in South Bend before traveling to Long Beach. Another event is scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 5 in Seaview.

The congresswoman is set to hold “Pints with Perez,” a mini town hall event in a more casual atmosphere, at Willapa Brewing Co. next Tuesday afternoon from 3-4 p.m. That evening, Perez is scheduled to appear at a meet-and-greet at the Adrift Hotel in Long Beach from 6-7 p.m, which is co-hosted by the Democrats of Pacific County.

Another “Pints with Perez” event is scheduled two days later, from 4:30-5:30 p.m. on Sept. 5, at North Jetty Brewing in Seaview. Perez previously held a mini town hall at the brewery back in 2023.

Hotly contested

The congresswoman advanced to the Nov. 5 general election earlier this month, and she will be joined on the ballot by Republican challenger Joe Kent, whom she defeated by less than 1% in the general election two years ago.

As of Aug. 27, Kent’s campaign website had not been updated to advertise town hall-style events after Aug. 5. His most recently listed Pacific County appearances were a month ago.

With 10 weeks until Election Day, the contest is expected to be one of the most fiercely contested congressional races in the country this fall.

Last week, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee announced that it had reserved $6.64 million in broadcast TV advertising for the Portland media market, which covers much of Southwest Washington — although not Pacific County. House Majority PAC, the super PAC aligned with House Democrats, revealed in the spring that it had reserved $9.48 million in television advertising in the Portland media market.

In June, the National Republican Congressional Committee announced $6.06 million in advertising reservations in the Portland media market. And in May, the Congressional Leadership Fund, the super PAC affiliated with House Republicans, announced it had reserved $5.5 million in the Portland media market.

The reservations are likely going toward other House races in the region in addition to the Perez-Kent rematch, such as Oregon’s Fifth Congressional District, where a first-term Republican congresswoman is also expected to be in a tight race this fall.

All told, these four major groups that spend hundreds of millions of dollars on advertising every two years have already forked over at least $27.68 million to run advertising on TV in the region this fall — with more surely to come in the ensuing weeks and months.

That also doesn’t factor in any future advertising from the Perez and Kent campaigns directly; Perez entered July with $4.1 million in her campaign account, while Kent had about $880,000.