The U.S. Speaker of the House of Representatives canceled a public appearance with Southwest Washington congressional candidate and state Sen. John Braun, R-Centralia, earlier this week after an artificial intelligence policy meeting at the White House ran long earlier in the day.
He still made it to Thurston County, though, marking a historic visit for the office that is second in line for the presidential succession, following only the vice president.
The Braun campaign announced Tuesday afternoon that it would cancel an RSVP-only campaign event with Braun, political podcaster Brandi Kruse and Speaker of the House Mike Johnson.
Johnson ended up arriving for a local gathering later than originally planned, attending a small gathering of major donors in Olympia.
In a brief phone interview with The Chronicle, Braun said Thursday Johnson was at the event for roughly an hour and spent most of that time focused on speaking with the roughly 20 attendees.
Braun added that despite his brief time in the area at an event located just outside the district, the speaker “remains very optimistic about this race.”
“Ours is one of the top, if not the top, pickup opportunity in the country,” Braun said.
Braun is seeking to unseat Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Skamania,
A Wednesday campaign announcement thanked the small group of attendees for their support and Johnson for his time spent in the state.
“We had a wonderful turnout and a terrific conversation about the importance of this race and what’s at stake in the months ahead,” wrote the Braun campaign. “We are especially grateful to Speaker Johnson for making the trip back to Washington state in support of John and for sharing such encouraging words with everyone in the room.”
The campaign announced last month that Johnson would pay a visit to the area on Tuesday, Sept. 29, for two fundraising events. Earlier this week, the campaign added that they would first hold an RSVP-only rally at Braun Northwest in Chehalis before heading to Olympia for the private roundtable dinner with donors.
Entry to the reception ran $500 per person while the admission to the private roundtable cost $3,500 per person.
The campaign notified The Chronicle on the afternoon of the planned event that the rally in Chehalis would be canceled due to the speaker running behind schedule. According to Braun, that was in large part because a well-publicized meeting on artificial intelligence at the White House appeared to run roughly two hours long.
“While we very much appreciate both the speaker and the other members coming out, we are working hard to run a race that’s focused on the people here in Southwest Washington,” Braun said.
Braun added that Johnson and his staff discussed paying another visit to the district sometime at the end of the month, shortly ahead of the Nov. 3 general election, but clarified that no date has been made official.
Johnson visited the southern part of the district earlier this election cycle ahead of the August primary election with an event in Vancouver. Braun added that they hoped to bring him to the northern part of the district in either Lewis County or Cowlitz County before the general election.
Johnson also visited the district twice during the previous congressional election in 2024 in support of Republican Joe Kent, who would go on to lose to the incumbent Marie Gluesenkamp Perez for the second time by a small margin.
Johnson represents a congressional district in Louisiana in addition to his role as House Speaker.
