Marie Gluesenkamp Perez Bio
Kristina Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (born June 4, 1988) is an American politician and small-business owner who has served as the U.S. Representative for Washington’s 3rd congressional district since 2023. A member of the Democratic Party, she is a co-chair of the Blue Dog Coalition and a member of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus. She is widely known for winning a narrow upset in 2022 and then prevailing again in a 2024 rematch, both against Republican Joe Kent.
Raised in Harris County, Texas, she graduated from Reed College in Portland, Oregon, with a degree in economics in 2012. She co-owns Dean’s Car Care, an auto repair shop in Portland, and lives near Stevenson, Washington, in Skamania County, with her husband and their child.
Early Life and Background
Gluesenkamp Perez was born Kristina Marie Pérez in Harris County, Texas, on June 4, 1988. Her father immigrated from Mexico, while her mother’s family has roots in Washington state. Her parents met at Western Washington University and later moved to Texas, where her father served as a pastor at an evangelical church. She is the youngest of four children and grew up in Houston, where her mother homeschooled her and her siblings in their early years.
On her mother’s side, Gluesenkamp Perez comes from a long line of loggers, and her maternal grandfather worked as a carpenter in Bellingham, Washington. This rural, working-class background shaped her later focus on timber, trades, and small-business issues. After high school, she initially attended Warren Wilson College before transferring to Reed College in Portland, Oregon. To pay for tuition, she worked in a café and at a manufacturing plant, and she graduated in 2012 with a bachelor’s degree in economics.
Path to US Politics
Gluesenkamp Perez’s entry into public life began in southwestern Washington. While living in rural Skamania County, she and her husband opened Dean’s Car Care and built their own home. In 2016, she ran for Skamania County commissioner but lost, receiving 32.8 percent of the vote in the primary and 46.3 percent in the general election. Two years later, she ran unsuccessfully for the Skamania County Public Utility District commissioner, and in 2018 she began serving on the Underwood Conservation District board. From 2020 to 2022, she sat on the Washington State Democratic Party executive committee.
She supported Bernie Sanders in the 2016 Democratic presidential primaries, reflecting the independent, populist streak that would later define her congressional brand. Her experience running a small auto repair shop in Portland also informed a signature issue: right-to-repair legislation. These local races and party roles built the foundation for her 2022 campaign for the U.S. House of Representatives.
Marie Gluesenkamp Perez Career
Early Career (2016–2022)
Before running for Congress, Gluesenkamp Perez cut her teeth in local Skamania County politics. Her 2016 county commissioner race and 2018 Public Utility District race ended in defeat, but they established her as a persistent grassroots organizer in a rural corner of Washington. Her work on the Underwood Conservation District board and the Washington State Democratic Party executive committee gave her additional policy and party experience.
She also built a public profile as co-owner of Dean’s Car Care in Portland, where right-to-repair became a central concern. Many of her later campaign ads featured her inside the auto repair shop, using her own business as evidence of her commitment to the issue. By the time she entered the 2022 race for Washington’s 3rd congressional district, she had a clear platform built on small-business, trade, and rural-economy themes.
2022 Congressional Upset (2022)
In the 2022 election for Washington’s 3rd congressional district, Gluesenkamp Perez advanced from Washington’s nonpartisan blanket primary with 31 percent of the vote, finishing first. Republican Joe Kent placed second, narrowly defeating the six-term incumbent, Republican Jaime Herrera Beutler, by 0.5 percent. Going into the general election, forecasters rated the seat as ranging from “Lean R” to “Solid R,” and FiveThirtyEight gave her just a 2 percent chance of winning.
Her narrow victory on Election Day received widespread national attention. The Seattle Times called it “the most stunning political upset in the country this year” and “a microcosm of the midterms.” Kent conceded on December 21, 2022, after a recount, allowing Gluesenkamp Perez to become the representative-elect for the 3rd district.
2024 Rematch (2024)
Gluesenkamp Perez and Joe Kent faced off again in 2024, with the national spotlight fixed on the 3rd district as a key crossover battleground. This time, Gluesenkamp Perez won decisively, taking 51.7 percent of the vote to Kent’s 47.9 percent. As a freshman and the representative of a crossover district, she was the only crossover freshman Democrat to be re-elected to the House that cycle.
Washington’s 3rd District Era (2023–Present)
Since taking office in January 2023, Gluesenkamp Perez has carved out a reputation as a moderate Democrat willing to break with her party on select high-profile votes. She joined the Blue Dog Coalition as a co-chair and the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus. In May 2023, she helped introduce the REPAIR Act and the SMART Act, two bipartisan right-to-repair bills aimed at requiring auto manufacturers to share parts, tools, and data needed for repairs at lower costs.
On infrastructure, she has highlighted her role in securing $2.1 billion in federal funding to rebuild the Interstate Bridge carrying Interstate 5 across the Columbia River, and in 2024 she co-sponsored the renewal of the National Landslide Preparedness Act. She has frequently voted with Republicans on border, immigration, and election-integrity bills, including the SAVE Act in 2024 and 2025, and in 2026 she was one of seven Democrats to vote for a Department of Homeland Security funding bill. She has also drawn notice for breaking with the White House on student debt relief, voting against a 2023 plan and calling for matching investment in career and technical education.
Notable Events and Milestones
Gluesenkamp Perez’s 2022 upset remains her signature political moment, widely cited as one of the most surprising results of that midterm cycle. Her 2024 rematch win cemented her as a rare crossover Democrat in a district that had been rated as safely Republican. In December 2022, she was featured on The New York Times Style Magazine list of the 93 Most Stylish People of 2022.
Marie Gluesenkamp Perez Family
Family Background and Political Lineage
Gluesenkamp Perez’s family straddles the U.S.-Mexico border and the Pacific Northwest. Her father immigrated from Mexico, and her mother has Washington roots, with a long family line of loggers. Her maternal grandfather was a carpenter in Bellingham, and her father served as a pastor at an evangelical church in Texas, where Gluesenkamp Perez grew up as the youngest of four children.
Personal Life
Gluesenkamp Perez lives near Stevenson, Washington, in Skamania County, in a home she and her husband built themselves. She married Dean Gluesenkamp in 2016; the two met while co-managing the Reed Bike Co-Op at Reed College. They have one child and a dog named Uma Furman. She is a nondenominational Christian, and the family also operates Dean’s Car Care, an auto repair shop in Portland, Oregon, named after her husband and managed by him while she serves in Washington, D.C.