State Senator John Braun posed an interesting question in his closing argument Wednesday night during a debate that was hosted and televised by KOIN-TV in Portland.
U.S. Congresswoman Marie Gluesenkamp Perez used her closing argument to try to drive home a point she had hoped to make all night, that she was a member of a political party but she really only works for her community.
The race for Washington’s Congressional District 3 received a regional spotlight Wednesday during a televised debate hosted by moderators Ken Boddie and Lisa Balick of KOIN.
“In four years, my opponent, Marie, has passed one bill, to name a post office in Bucoda. A good name, a good post office, but not something that’s making a difference in your lives. So I ask you a simple question: Has Marie done a single thing, a single tangible thing, to help you or your families? If the answer is no, we’re ready for a change, and I will ask for your vote.”
Gluesenkamp Perez reminded folks of the reasons why she ran for the U.S. House of Representatives in the first place. The job comes down to answering a question, she said.
“How do you make D.C. work for the people who are paying for it?” Gluesenkamp Perez asked. “I’ve been able to get $2.1 billion for the I-5 bridge. I’ve been able to secure funding for our rural schools. And I’ve been able to leverage housing dollars to get more housing built for all of us.”
One of Braun’s theme’s all night was describing Gluesenkamp Perez as a D.C. politician, one who can only use attack ads because she has no record to run on in her campaign.
Gluesenkamp Perez noted that it is Braun who has been a state politician for years. She said it would be a mistake to send a multi-millionaire, career politician to Washington, D.C., to represent Southwest Washington.
This was the first of two televised debates scheduled for this race. Wednesday’s debate can be seen here: https://www.koin.com/news/washington/marie-gluesenkamp-perez-john-braun-washington-3rd-district-debate-koin-6-10072026/
Braun opened the debate noting he was excited to be there to show voters what he really is about, to combat the attack ads brought on by his opponent, a D.C. politician who has nothing but those ads in this campaign.
Gluesenkamp Perez opened by noting she is one of the few members of Congress who has a child in public education. She said she flies home from D.C. every week to help raise her family and be with the community that elected her.
The moderators brought up several issues during the hour-long debate. Here are just some of the subjects and exchanges.
The Interstate Bridge Replacement Program
The moderators noted that estimates are now at $15 billion for the planned bridge and its bells and whistles.
“Is a new bridge still worth building at that price?” Boddie asked.
“We need a bridge. We’ve got to build a bridge that we can afford,” Braun said. “We clearly can’t afford a $15 billion bridge. We need to live within our means.”
Gluesenkamp Perez agreed that a new bridge is a must.
“It is not an option to let that bridge collapse into the river,” she said.
“From day one, I’ve put a lot of muscle behind making sure that we get as much federal resources as we can,” Gluesenkamp Perez said. “I brought back $2.1 billion for this project. That’s a big number. But this is fundamentally a state project.”
The moderators also noted that the program is still waiting for that federal money to be finalized. They asked how that money could be secured.
Braun said it might take local leaders to understand that they can’t have everything they want, and they should start by taking away something that most Southwest Washington residents don’t want anyway.
“We can clearly build the bridge with the $6 billion we have. We just can’t do all the other things that have been driven by ideological concerns over the last two decades,” Braun said.
“I have never supported light rail,” he said, noting that without light rail, this project could have been done years ago.
Instead, it turned into an “ideological battle that’s never served the citizens of Clark County well.”
Gluesenkamp Perez did not take a position on light rail during the debate.
“It is zero percent the federal government’s role,” she said.
Washington’s new income tax
The moderators called Washington new income tax, set to go into effect in 2028, the millionaire’s tax. They noted there is an initiative on this year’s ballot that would put an end to this tax. And they asked where Gluesenkamp Perez and Braun stand on the tax.
Gluesenkamp Perez said the Washington legislature has a spending problem.
“Adding another revenue stream isn’t going to fundamentally fix the problem. They just spend wildly and force the cost on the working people,” she said. “Will this drive down to middle and lower incomes? If it does, I can’t support it. But I don’t work in state government.”
Braun called the income tax wrong headed and unconstitutional. He also is disappointed that the congresswoman had very little to stay when the new tax was being introduced.
“This is a bad tax put in place by members of her own party,” Braun said. “She has a platform to affect the future of our state, and unfortunately, she has been entirely quiet on this issue.”
“I don’t work in Olympia,” Perez responded. “I don’t work for Olympia. I don’t work for a caucus. I work to represent working people and families in Southwest Washington.”
… “Who will pay this tax,” Braun shot back.
The conflict with Iran
“I would not support an open-ended war with no clear objective to end it,” Braun said.
“I have voted against the President’s war six times,” Gluesenkamp Perez said. “This war has been a disaster for our families at home, for our military families, for our geopolitical security.”
She also claimed that Braun said that he needed to get inside the President’s head before knowing how he would vote.
Braun disputed that.
“First of all, I have never, ever, mentioned the words, ‘Get inside the President’s head.’ Once again, a D.C. politician making up Pinocchio stories to try to hold on to her seat,” he said.
Vote by Mail and Voter ID
Gluesenkamp Perez said Washington’s Vote by Mail is “the gold standard in election security.”
Braun also supports Vote by Mail.
“I think it’s the right thing, but I do think there are things we can do to improve it,” he said.
Braun noted that Americans need their ID to pay bills, to fly on airplanes, to do so many things, every day. Voting should be one of those things that requires an ID.
Perez also said it is “really important that only U.S. citizens are casting ballots in our election.”
Gluesenkamp Perez and Braun are scheduled to hold another debate on Oct. 13. That debate will be televised by KATU-TV in Portland.
Comments
Loading comments…