Marie Gluesenkamp Perez


Kristina Marie Gluesenkamp Perez is an American politician. A member of the Democratic Party, she has been the United States representative for Washington's 3rd congressional district since 2023. She is a co-chair of the Blue Dog Coalition.

Early life and career

On June 4, 1988, Kristina Marie Gluesenkamp Perez was born as Kristina Marie Pérez in Harris County, Texas. Her father immigrated from Mexico, while her mother's family has roots in Washington. Her parents met at Washington University">Washington (state)">Washington University and then moved to Texas. Her father was a pastor at an evangelical church. The youngest of four children, she grew up in Houston, Texas, in a family where her mother home-schooled her children in their early years.
Gluesenkamp Perez comes from a long line of loggers on her mother's side. Her grandfather was a carpenter in Bellingham.
After high school, Gluesenkamp Perez initially attended Warren Wilson College and then transferred to Reed College in Portland, Oregon. She worked in a cafe and at a manufacturing plant to pay for tuition. Gluesenkamp Perez graduated from college in 2012 with a degree in economics. She met her husband, Dean Gluesenkamp, while co-managing Reed Bike Co-Op at Reed College. They opened an automobile repair shop and moved to rural Skamania County in Washington, where they built their own home.
In 2016, Gluesenkamp Perez entered politics, when she ran for Skamania County commissioner but lost, receiving 32.8% of the vote in the primary and 46.3% in the general election. She supported Bernie Sanders in the Democratic Party presidential primaries">Democratic Party (United States)">Democratic Party presidential primaries.
In 2018, Gluesenkamp Perez ran for the position of Skamania County Public Utility District commissioner, but was unsuccessful. In 2018, Gluesenkamp Perez began serving on the Underwood Conservation District board. From 2020 to 2022, Gluesenkamp Perez was on the Washington State Democratic Party executive committee.

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

2022

In 2022, Gluesenkamp Perez ran for the U.S. House of Representatives to represent Washington's 3rd congressional district. She advanced from Washington's nonpartisan blanket primary in which candidates from all parties are listed on the same primary ballot, and the top two finishers, regardless of party, move on to the general election. Gluesenkamp Perez finished first in the primary with 31% of the vote, while Republican Joe Kent came in second, narrowly defeating the incumbent, Republican Jaime Herrera Beutler, by 0.5%. Another Republican, Heidi St. John, finished fourth with 16.0%, and the second Democratic candidate, Davy Ray, garnered 2.2%. Before the primary, Brent Hennrich, a Democrat who had led in two early polls, withdrew from the race and endorsed Gluesenkamp Perez.
The general election's rating varied from "Lean R", according to The [Cook Political Report with Amy Walter|The Cook Political Report], to "Solid R" in FiveThirtyEights House of Representatives forecast. FiveThirtyEight estimated that Gluesenkamp Perez had a 2% chance of winning the general election over Kent, and was expected to receive 43.6% of the popular vote. She led in one of two polls and was trailing in the other; both were within the margin of error. Her subsequent narrow victory received widespread national attention, with The Seattle Times calling it "the most stunning political upset in the country this year", and "a microcosm of the midterms". Kent conceded on December 21, following a recount.

2024

In 2024, Gluesenkamp Perez defeated Kent in a rematch, winning with 51.7 percent of the vote to Kent's 47.9 percent.
As both a freshman and a representative of a crossover district, the 3rd district received national interest from both sides, and so Gluesenkamp Perez was the only crossover freshman Democrat to be re-elected.

Committee assignments

;Current
;Past

Caucus memberships

Political positions

Gluesenkamp Perez campaigned as a moderate Democrat, supporting both abortion rights and Right to [keep and bear arms in the United States|Second Amendment rights]. She emphasized her focus on small businesses, job training, local issues such as the timber industry, and expressed opposition to political extremism. Following her election, she has taken a role as a co-chair of the Blue Dog Coalition and has joined the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus. Her record has been criticized by pro-choice activists and student debt activists.
In 2025, Gluesenkamp Perez was among 10 Democrats who joined House Republicans in voting to censure Al Green for disrupting the 2025 Donald Trump speech to a joint session of Congress.

Abortion

Gluesenkamp Perez supports abortion access, citing her personal experience having a dilation and curettage procedure after a miscarriage. KGW described her support for abortion rights as "a tenet of her campaign". In January 2023, she voted against the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, which would criminalize healthcare providers in failing to provide care for an infant born alive after an abortion attempt.

Foreign policy

In February 2024 Gluesenkamp Perez co-sponsored the Defending Borders, Defending Democracies Act, which proposed $66.32 billion in defense-only funding, including approximately $47.7 billion for Ukraine, as well as funding for Israel and Taiwan.
In October 2024, when asked repeatedly about present concerns of excessive U.S. military support to Israel in the Gaza war or its misuse, though international rights groups since 2023 had also considered excessive diplomatic support, she stated that " must ground this conversation in the fact that October 7th was the deadliest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust" concluding that this should contribute towards persuading Hamas to release its hostages, that "Israel has the right to defend itself, as liberal democracy , it’s especially in a region where women’s and LGBTQ rights are under constant threat" and that this support was representative of supporting Israel at all, thus creating a vacuum to be filled by U.S. foreign adversaries by withdrawing it. Although she had concerns over what she described as the IDF's prioritization in "taking out apartment buildings" over operations involving " where hostages and terrorists hiding", she would not attempt to affect Israeli military policy by using military support as leverage due to having become aware that " less than 10% of GDP".

Gun control

Gluesenkamp Perez opposes an outright ban on assault weapons but supports raising the age required to purchase an assault weapon from 18 to 21.

Immigration

Gluesenkamp Perez supports the reinstatement of Title 42 expulsions and the Remain in Mexico policy to curtail illegal immigration. In July 2024, she cast one of five Democratic votes to condemn the Biden administration's handling of the United States border.
In January 2025, Gluesenkamp Perez was one of 48 Democrats to vote for the Laken Riley Act, which requires U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to detain undocumented immigrants charged with theft. She later became one of 46 House Democrats who joined all Republicans to vote for a Senate-amended version of the bill.
On January 22, 2026, she was one of seven Democrats who voted to pass HR 7147 funding bill for the United States Department of Homeland Security, including funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The vote came amid Democratic criticism of ICE operations in Minneapolis following the shooting death of Renée Good on January 7. Gluesenkamp Perez defended her vote, citing the bill's importance for the Coast Guard and FEMA in her district, stating that she "could not in good conscience vote to shut it down." She criticized both "overly aggressive tactics" by federal law enforcement and "indiscriminate, overly aggressive slogans like 'Defund ICE'" from her own party.
Following the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti by a Border Patrol agent on January 25, Gluesenkamp Perez called for DHS Secretary Kristi Noem to step down, describing the shooting as "un-American." However, unlike fellow Democratic Representative Tom Suozzi who expressed regret over his vote, Gluesenkamp Perez did not retract her support for the DHS funding bill.

Inflation

Gluesenkamp Perez blames inflation on companies outsourcing jobs, and states that is the top issue affecting voters in her district. She has called for both increased usage of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in the short term and a long-term increase in the number of jobs available in green industries.

Infrastructure

Gluesenkamp Perez has emphasized her role in securing $2.1 billion in federal funding to rebuild the Interstate Bridge, which carries Interstate 5 across the Columbia River. Citing the economic losses experienced in her district from landslides, she co-sponsored the renewal of the National Landslide Preparedness Act in 2024.

Military and veterans

In July 2023, Gluesenkamp Perez voted to pass the annual National [Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024|National Defense Authorization Act] that included provisions to bar Pentagon spending for abortion and transgender surgeries. She defended her vote by saying the Senate would "clean up" the bill. In early 2024, Gluesenkamp Perez introduced the Rural Veterans Transportation to Care Act that would expand transportation to veterans attempting to access medical care. In July, after a letter she had sent earlier received no response, she hand delivered a petition to the head of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs requesting the reopening of a VA clinic in Lewis County. The prior clinic was closed in 2021 and replaced with a limited mobile care unit, requiring approximately 3,000 veterans in the county to travel out of the area to Olympia, Washington.

Right-to-repair

In May 2023, Gluesenkamp Perez helped introduce the REPAIR Act and the SMART Act, two bipartisan right-to-repair bills that seek to require auto manufacturers to share parts, tools, and data needed for repairs at lower costs.

Student debt

Gluesenkamp Perez voted against a student debt relief plan proposed by the White House in 2023. She was one of only two House Democrats to do so, along with Jared Golden of Maine. At the time, she said that "expansions of student debt forgiveness need to be matched dollar-for-dollar with investments in career technical education. I can't support the first without the other. The severe shortage of trades workers needs to be seen treated as a national priority."

Voting rights and electoral reform

Gluesenkamp Perez believes that vote by mail is safe and has refuted unsubstantiated claims of widespread fraud among mail-in ballots. In July 2024, she was one of only five out of 198 Democrats who voted with the Republican majority to pass the SAVE Act, which would require those registering to vote to provide documentary proof of United States citizenship.
In 2024, Gluesenkamp Perez, along with Jared Golden, proposed a bipartisan committee to consider electoral reforms, such as multi-member districts with proportional representation, increasing the number of members in the House of Representatives and establishing independent redistricting commissions.
On April 10, 2025, Gluesenkamp Perez was one of only four Democrats who joined all of the Republicans in the House in voting in favor of the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, commonly known as the SAVE Act. The bill places strict requirements to prove American citizenship in order to vote in federal elections.

Congressional membership

Gluesenkamp Perez holds the belief that there should be cognitive standards for serving in Congress. In her view, this would help combat distrust of elected officials among younger voters, while simultaneously ensuring that all members are fit to carry out their duty of voting on behalf of their constituent. She attempted to introduce a bill that would have the Office of Congressional Conduct develop a standard that the Ethics Committee could use to evaluate complaints lodged against lawmakers accused of suffering from cognitive impairment. While the bill was unanimously shut down, she has voiced that she is not yet willing to drop the issue.

Personal life

Gluesenkamp Perez lives near Stevenson, Washington, in Skamania County. She is married to Dean Gluesenkamp, and has one child. They also have a dog named Uma Furman. Gluesenkamp Perez is a nondenominational Christian.
In December 2022, Gluesenkamp Perez was featured on The New York Times Style Magazine list of the 93 Most Stylish People of 2022.

Electoral history

2024