WA-03 U.S. House, Washington
WA-03
Rubric: 5 Championed · 4 Supportive · 3 Mixed / limited · 2 Leaning against · 1 Opposed · NR Bounded search
WA-03 race breakdown
Washington's 3rd District (southwest Washington: Vancouver, Longview, Centralia, Camas; Clark, Cowlitz, Lewis, Pacific, Skamania and Wahkiakum counties) Asian (non-Hispanic) residents are 3.7% of the district (ACS 2024 via DataUSA), the lowest AAPI share in this guide. It is included because small turnout shifts, including any AAPI turnout effect, can decide the House majority.
Competitiveness: Cook moved the race to Lean D on October 9, 2026; UVA Center for Politics rates it leans D. 2024: Gluesenkamp Perez 51.7%–47.9%; 2022: 50.1%–49.3% (2,629 votes). OPB's Sept. 17-27 DHM poll of 543 likely voters put Braun at 48%, Perez 47% after leaners (±4.2 points), within sampling error. (OPB). Primary order-of-finish: early counts had Gluesenkamp Perez first, but certified final counts put State Sen. John Braun first (39.7%) with her second (36.4%). Democrat Brent Hennrich finished a distant third and did not answer whether he would endorse Perez, saying she must earn voters' support (OPB, Aug 7, 2026). President Trump endorsed Braun in April 2026.
Marie Gluesenkamp Perez Democrat · Incumbent since 2023
Auto-repair shop co-owner. First elected in a 2022 upset over Joe Kent. Blue Dog Coalition co-chair; House Appropriations Committee. Not a CAPAC member.
Mixed record. Voted YEA on the Laken Riley detention bill (Jan 2025, one of 48 Democrats on initial passage) and on the SAVE Act proof-of-citizenship registration requirement (Apr 2025). Supports reinstating Title 42 expulsions and the "Remain in Mexico" policy. Voted NAY on the Secure the Border Act (2023) and frames border security around fentanyl enforcement. Not a cosponsor of the End H-1B Visa Abuse Act or of the DIGNIDAD Act, and no skilled-visa position of any kind was found (GovTrack; GovTrack; Wikipedia).
Co-leads bipartisan housing-supply legislation. The CONSTRUCTS Act - Creating Opportunities for New Skills Training at Rural and Underserved Colleges and Trade Schools (Dec 2024, introduced with Republican Reps. Ciscomani and Zinke and Democratic Rep. Don Davis) addresses the shortage of skilled construction workers as a driver of housing costs, and the National Association of Home Builders commended it. She also carries a platform plank on bringing down housing costs. Authored but not enacted. The record is rural/small-town oriented: supportive rather than championing (House release, Dec 2024; campaign site). Voted Yea on the June 23, 2026 House motion to concur in the amended H.R. 6644 housing bill (Roll Call 224, 358-32). [House vote]
Her education record is narrow but on the issue's main lines. The Fairness for the Trades Act (2024, reintroduced bipartisan in 2025) would expand eligible 529-plan expenses to qualifying tools and equipment used in technical careers, plus advocacy making career- education courses credit-eligible, alongside a YEA vote canceling the Biden student-debt- relief rule (2023). Not a cosponsor of the Teaching AANHPI History Act (H.R. 3551); no AANHPI-curriculum engagement found (House release, Oct 2024; GovTrack).
Not a cosponsor of the Language Access for All Act of 2026 (H.R. 7223) or the National Language Access Month resolution (H.Res. 1148). No multilingual-services, ballot-access or interpreter legislation or statements were found (GovTrack; GovTrack).
Took office in January 2023, so she has no vote on the 2021 COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act. Her GovTrack member page shows no hate-crime sponsorship, cosponsorship or vote. No AANHPI-specific statement or response to anti-Asian violence was located (GovTrack).
John Braun Republican · State Senate Minority Leader
Retired Navy captain (submarine force) and emergency-vehicle manufacturer. Washington state senator since 2013; Senate Minority Leader since 2020. Trump-endorsed.
His platform is enforcement-maximalist: "complete high-priority barriers," hire more agents, "tighten asylum loopholes," go after cartel supply chains. He attacked his opponent for opposing the 2023 Secure the Border Act. His one verifiable state vote cut against immigrant-worker protections: NAY on the 2019 immigrants-in-the-workplace bill (SB 5497, Senate 30-16). No anti-legal-immigration statements and no skilled-visa record were found. Leaning against (votebraun.com; WA Legislature).
Voted YEA on both of Washington's landmark 2023 density laws: HB 1110 legalizing duplexes and fourplexes statewide (Senate 35-14) and HB 1337 expanding accessory dwelling units (39-7). Those are concrete supportive votes on the housing-supply agenda this issue measures. His later housing record includes co-sponsoring ESSB 5552, the 2026 law directing building codes for kit homes, signed March 14, 2026; his own platform is tax- and-spending focused (WA Legislature; WA Legislature).
Authored SB 5954, the 2015 College Affordability Program, which cut public-university tuition. His campaign calls these the first and largest such cuts in the nation. As Senate Ways & Means chairman he led the 2017-19 operating budget that fully funded basic education under the McCleary mandate with property-tax relief. Voted YEA on the 2024 parents'-rights initiative I-2081 (49-0) and prime-sponsored SB 5851 in the 2023-24 session to expand Holocaust and genocide education; it advanced through Senate committees but did not become law. The record contains no AANHPI-curriculum item (votebraun.com; WA Legislature).
Mixed voting record: voted YEA on SB 5944, language-access providers' collective bargaining (Senate 44-5, Feb 11, 2026; became law in March 2026), and NAY on SB 5995, spoken-language interpreter and translator licensing (Senate 30-19, Feb 2, 2024; did not become law). A floor-management action (moving a 2026 bill from the Senate Rules "white sheet") is procedural (SB 5944 history; SB 5995 history).
Voted NAY on Senate Final Passage of SSB 5427 (Roll Call 36, Feb 7, 2024, 30-18-1), the hate- crimes and bias-incidents bill that later became law. An earlier lead said he sponsored a 2025-26 hate-crime bill after the Spokane pride-display vandalism case; that bill was Sen. Billig's. Braun's own SB 5851 (2023-24) was a Holocaust/genocide-education measure. No AAPI-specific statements either way; one adverse vote (WA Legislature, roll call #36).