Marie Gluesenkamp Pérez leads Trump ally Joe Kent in Washington' s 3rd Congressional District - Axios SeattleLog InLog InAxios Seattle is an Axios company.

Marie Gluesenkamp Pérez leads Trump ally Joe Kent in Washington' s 3rd

Photo courtesy of Pérez campaign Democrat Marie Gluesenkamp Pérez led far-right candidate Joe Kent from , giving Democrats hope they might be able to turn blue for the first time in 12 years. Driving the news: After the first rounds of ballots were counted Tuesday night, Gluesenkamp Pérez led Kent by more than 5 percentage points, according to the .Many ballots remain uncounted, and the results could change over the course of the week. Why it matters: Glusenkamp Pérez's election-night lead comes after some Republicans publicly said to vote for her, citing Kent's extreme views — including his that the 2020 election — as reasons they couldn't support him. Context: In many ways, the race in southwest Washington has served as a proxy for the influence of former , who endorsed Kent. The Republican incumbent, Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, lost in the primary after being one of to vote for Trump's . Catch up quick: The election of Gluesenkamp Pérez, an auto shop owner who has never held elected office, would mark a return to Democratic representation for Washington's 3rd Congressional District, which was represented by Democrat Brian Baird from 1997 to 2011.Throughout the campaign, Glusenkamp Pérez to Kent's far-right views, such as that the Jan. 6 attack was an "intelligence operation" and that defendants of the insurrection are being held as "political prisoners."She also has criticized his anti-abortion rights stance, that if his views were law, women like her could lose their ability to have children "or worse" due to the restrictions he'd impose.The candidates disagreed on gun control measures, too, with Gluesenkamp Pérez saying she would support banning the sale of semiautomatic rifles to people under age 21, and Kent pledging to oppose any new firearm restrictions. What's next: More ballots will be counted in the vote-by-mail election in the coming days, which could cause Kent to gain ground or even pull ahead. Get more local stories in your inbox with .Subscribe Support local journalism by becoming a member.

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