Hennrich says there remains a "path to victory" in his effort to unseat MGP

May 25-The Brent Hennrich campaign is calling on incumbent Congresswoman Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Skamania, to step aside this election cycle despite Hennrich's significant fundraising disadvantage.

The Hennrich campaign late last week responded to a change in how the independent political analysis publication Inside Elections is rating the race in Washington's Third Congressional District. Both Hennrich and conservative Seattle publication Seattle Red jumped quickly on the site changing its analysis of the race from "lean Democrat" to "toss up."

The Hennrich campaign pointed to the change in rating as evidence that the race is increasingly competitive and suggested that Hennrich, also a Democrat, would better be able to retain the seat for Democrats than Gluesenkamp Perez.

"Rep. Gluesenkamp Perez should consider stepping aside so Democrats can retain this seat," reads the Friday news release from the Hennrich campaign.

The news release suggested that Hennrich would outperform the Republican candidate and state Sen. John Braun, R-Centralia, in the general election by six points, according to "internal polling." The campaign did not provide any additional information on the poll.

Hennrich's campaign also suggested that support for Gluesenkamp Perez among Democrat voters is "under 70%," according to "recent polling," but did not provide any additional information on the specific poll or data.

The race to become the representative for Washington state's Third Congressional District has long been expected to be extremely competitive and, as a result, likely very expensive.

Independent analysis from the Cook Political Report last updated its analysis of the race back in November when it had already identified the race as a tossup district and predicted a 2-point edge for Republicans in the race.

Hennrich is the third highest fundraiser in the race for the congressional seat, but still lags significantly behind the two major competitors in the race: Gluesenkamp Perez and Braun.

Hennrich has reported approximately $167,000 in fundraising revenue compared to just shy of $1.2 million for Braun and about $4.5 million for Gluesenkamp Perez.

Copyright 2026 Tribune Content Agency. All Rights Reserved.