Polling recently completed and sent out by the campaign of 3rd Congressional District candidate Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Washougal, shows her currently carrying a narrow lead over her opponent, Joe Kent, R-Battle Ground.
Along with its polling report, the campaign announced Friday Gluesenkamp Perez raised more than $600,000 in the month of August.
In an initial head-to-head ballot test, before surveyed voters are primed with any additional information, Gluesenkamp Perez leads Kent, 47% to 45%, with 8% of surveyed voters undecided.
“These results are incredibly encouraging and show that people are tired of extremists hijacking Washington. They want their representative to understand their everyday challenges and are willing to work with anyone to solve them,” Gluesenkamp Perez said in a news release.
Kent, called an extremist by his opponent many times, has been vocal with his stance that the 2020 election was stolen and that the Jan. 6 storming of the U.S. Capitol may have been organized by intelligence agencies, the release stated. At this stage, the Democratic candidate’s campaign showed surveyed voters were more likely to have heard of Kent than Gluesenkamp Perez.
“Overall, 75% of voters say they know enough to have formed an opinion about Kent. But 39% of district voters currently have an unfavorable view of Kent, with 30% holding a strongly negative view,” the campaign wrote, later adding, “Gluesenkamp Perez’s fundraising has been surging since Kent ousted Republican incumbent Jaime Herrera Beutler in the primary …With a donor base that includes a growing number of moderate Republican and Independent donors repelled by Kent’s extremism, violent, divisive rhetoric and conspiracy mongering.”
