CHEHALIS — John Braun responded Tuesday (Sept. 15) to a new attack advertisement from Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez that exploits workplace accidents, misrepresents Braun Northwest’s safety record and Braun’s legislative record, and takes his comments following the Longview industrial tragedy out of context.
“Political campaigns are tough, and I expect Marie Perez to attack my record,” Braun said. “But using the injuries and death of workers to score political points—and then distorting the facts about what happened—crosses a line.”
Perez claim: A Braun Northwest employee was “maimed” on equipment she was “never trained” to operate
Braun campaign response: The employee was trained, and the characterization of her injury as a “maiming” is a gross exaggeration.
The employee had been trained to operate the drill press. She suffered a fractured finger, received medical treatment, and was able to return to work the next day. Braun Northwest has records documenting her training and the circumstances surrounding the injury.
“Any workplace injury is serious, and we treated this one seriously,” Braun said. “But a fractured finger is not a ‘maiming,’ and saying this employee was never trained is simply untrue. Marie Perez could have checked the facts before putting this accusation on television.”
Perez Claim: Braun Northwest was responsible for a worker’s death
Braun campaign response: That is not what the state investigation found.
The death of a Braun Northwest employee in a workplace accident was tragic. The Washington State Department of Labor & Industries fully investigated the accident and did not attribute fault for the fatality to Braun Northwest.
“The loss of our employee was devastating,” Braun said. “We cooperated fully with the investigation, and the state did not find Braun Northwest at fault for his death. For Marie Perez to use that tragedy to imply otherwise is deeply unfair to our company and, more importantly, disrespectful to the people who actually lived through it.”
Braun campaign response: Perez Ignores Braun Northwest’s actual safety record
Braun Northwest has an exceptional safety record for a manufacturing company of its type, documented by the company’s workers’ compensation experience rating with the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries.
That experience rating reflects an employer’s actual claims experience relative to other employers performing similar work.
“Braun Northwest has employed hundreds of people in Southwest Washington and built specialty emergency vehicles for decades,” Braun said. “Our employees are our friends and neighbors. Their safety has always mattered to us. Rather than relying on the inflammatory rhetoric of a political advertisement, voters should look at our actual safety record.”
Perez Claim: Braun voted “against workplace safety every time”
Braun campaign response: This claim is demonstrably false—and Braun’s legislative record proves it.
Braun has been a strong supporter of Washington’s Logger Safety Initiative, which brings workers, employers and the Department of Labor & Industries together to establish safety practices, training and incentives designed to reduce serious injuries and fatalities in one of Washington’s most dangerous industries.
Braun then helped apply that successful approach to another dangerous profession: firefighting.
In 2019, Braun was the prime sponsor of bipartisan legislation establishing firefighter safety best practices aimed at reducing injuries, illness and exposure to carcinogens. The approach was explicitly modeled on lessons learned through the Logger Safety Initiative.
Braun returned to the issue in 2024 as prime sponsor of legislation expanding the use of firefighter safety funding to include safety-culture assessments, training and other safety interventions. The legislation passed the Senate 49-0 and the House 93-0 before being signed into law.
“Workplace safety isn't a partisan issue, and my record reflects that,” Braun said. “I have worked with Republicans, Democrats, employers, workers and Labor & Industries to develop practical programs that make dangerous jobs safer. I have also opposed proposals when I believed they were ineffective, unnecessarily burdensome or simply bad policy. Marie Perez can disagree with those votes. She cannot honestly say I voted against workplace safety ‘every time.’”
Braun campaign response: Perez distorts Braun’s comments following the Longview tragedy
Finally, the advertisement takes four words from Braun’s comments following the Longview industrial disaster—“accepted the risks”—and presents them as though Braun were dismissing the deaths of 11 workers.
Braun campaign response: The actual statement said precisely the opposite.
Braun called the deaths “heartbreaking,” honored workers who risked their own lives attempting to save their colleagues, and called for a “thorough, transparent investigation” to determine what happened and prevent another tragedy.
“To take four words from a statement mourning 11 people who died, remove everything I said about their loss, their courage and the need to prevent another tragedy, and then use those words to suggest I didn't care about those workers is dishonest,” Braun said.
Braun said voters should expect vigorous disagreement in a congressional campaign—but they should also expect candidates to tell the truth.
“Marie Perez and I have plenty of legitimate disagreements. We can debate taxes, spending, health care, border security, energy and the cost of living. Those are the issues voters deserve to hear about,” Braun said.
“But injured and deceased workers should not be props in a political attack ad. If you're going to invoke their tragedies, you have an obligation to tell the truth about what happened.”
John Braun is a state senator representing Washington’s 20th Legislative District, which includes parts of Lewis, Cowlitz, and Clark counties. He is running for Congress to represent Southwest Washington and bring his experience in the U.S. Navy, as a citizen legislator, and as a manufacturing business owner to Washington, D.C. |
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