Perez leads in 3rd Congressional District fundraisingSubscriber Exclusive

If the midterm race for Washington’s 3rd Congressional District was solely based on available funds, incumbent Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Skamania, would be miles ahead.

Recent campaign contribution filings with the Federal Elections Commission show Perez has $3.45 million cash on hand heading into the 2026 primary election season, which is nearly four times the $918,000 remaining in Republican challenger John Braun’s war chest. The official candidate filing week for Washington’s Aug. 4 primary election is May 4-8, but some 3rd District candidates have been fundraising since early 2025.

The reports show that Perez added $2.58 million in campaign contributions between Jan. 1, 2025, and March 31, 2025, for a total of $4.55 million.

Braun, who started fundraising in July 2025, seven months later, raised $1.1 million. Another Perez challenger, Vancouver Democratic candidate Brent Hennrich, raised a little more than $167,000 between April 1, 2025, and March 31.

Braun’s and Hennrich’s campaigns are focused less on Perez’s total fundraising and more on the origin of those dollars, with both camps claiming to have more local, grassroots support.

Hennrich said Wednesday that his campaign outraised Perez’s by about $20,000 in small-dollar donors during the first quarter of 2026.

“Those are average Americans and voters giving $10 and $50 donations,” Hennrich said. “She had over $920,000 in transfers from PACs and committees. She didn’t earn that. She didn’t have voters saying, ‘I want to support that,’ just donors saying, ‘We want to defend this seat.’”

Social media posts from Braun’s campaign claim the Republican state senator has far more in-state donors than Perez. An April 20 Facebook post claimed only 7 percent of Perez’s donors during the first quarter of 2026 were from Washington.

“Marie may have started as an outsider, but now she’s a full-fledged cog in the political machine,” Braun said in his post. “She promised no corporate PAC money and then took donations from multiple big business PACs. This ‘outsider’ has turned into a D.C. swamp creature.”

Max Lavey, Braun’s campaign manager, said in an emailed statement Friday that the campaign arrived at the figures for Perez’s donations by adding the itemized donors on her first-quarter FEC report and comparing in-state versus out-of-state contributions.

Perez’s campaign said that calculation is misleading and does not show the widespread support the two-term Democratic congresswoman has within the state.

Tim Gowen, Perez’s campaign manager, said Thursday that Perez’s small-dollar donors — those who have given less than $200 to a candidate running for federal office — have donated to two committees: Marie for Congress, the main committee that shows up in FEC filings, and a joint fundraising committee called the MGP Victory Fund.

“Because small-dollar donors give to both committees,” Gowen said, “looking at only one committee understates total grassroots support.”

In the first-quarter filings for 2026, Perez’s campaign had 6,340 individual donors, 88 percent of whom gave $200 or less, Gowen said. The campaign recorded 2,099 donors from within the state, with 89 percent of Washington donors giving $200 or less to Perez’s campaign.

The congresswoman’s average contribution from Washington donors in the first quarter was $119.64, Gowen said.

Braun’s campaign said the Republican candidate had 1,150 small-dollar donors who contributed less than $200 during the first quarter of 2026.

FEC reports show nearly 67 percent ($111,143) of Hennrich’s individual contributions came from those giving less than $200.

Small-dollar donors made up 12 percent of Perez’s overall individual campaign contributions and about 9 percent of Braun’s.

Braun said last week that he felt confident in the first-quarter numbers.

“I feel very good,” he said. “I think we’re doing very well compared to other challengers.”

Largest donations

Smaller donations are an important way for a campaign to show grassroots support, but who are the individuals, associations and political action committees pouring money into the 3rd District race?

Hennrich said his “max donor” support — individual contributions that reach the maximum of $3,500 for a federal primary or general election — is easy to track.

“We have one max donor, and that’s musician Don Henley of the Eagles,” Hennrich said. “He said he liked what we had to say and sent $1,000, then another $1,000, then $500. I just smiled at who it was. I know a couple serious Eagles fans who are MAGA, and I’ve thanked them for their support.”

Braun and Perez have hundreds of “max donors” and significant support from PACs and other committees.

Some of Braun’s largest individual donations include $17,000 from Dan Rich, the owner of Tin Man Supply in Rochester; $17,500 from Teresa A. Noel, owner of Noel Corp. in Yakima; $17,500 from Larry Sundquist, manager of Adamant Homes in Mill Creek; $14,585 from John Goodman, chairman of Goodman Real Estate in Seattle; and more than $42,000 from members of the Koelsch family in Olympia, including Aaron Koelsch, president of Koelsch Senior Communities; his wife, Judy; and their adult children. Braun’s campaign has reimbursed these top donors to meet the maximum allowable donation.

Braun’s campaign also has received more than $53,000 from political action committees, including $10,000 from the Eye of the Tiger PAC; $7,000 from the Bold Action PAC; $5,000 each from the Koch Inc., Automotive Free International Trade and Seal PACs; and $3,500 each from the Supporting Electing American Leaders, MVL, Over the Target and Vitoria PACs.

Perez, who has pledged to not take money from corporate PACs, has raised tens of thousands of dollars from trade association PACs and other committees. The nonprofit government research group Open Secrets, which tracks campaign contributions, said Perez’s campaign has raised $509,452 from 168 PACs during the 2025-26 campaign cycle.

According to FEC reports, Perez’s 2026 campaign has received nearly $85,000 from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee; $52,000 from the Blue Dog Victory Fund to elect moderate Democrats; $32,100 from the Jeffries Battleground Protection Fund; $51,340 from Democracy Summer 2026; $10,000 from the Fair Shot PAC; $10,000 from the Save Democracy PAC; $5,000 each from the Unite America, National Electrical Contractors Association and Auto Care Association PACs; $2,500 each from the Ocean Spray Cranberries Inc., American Crystal Sugar Co. and American Association of Nurse Anesthetists PACs; and $1,500 each from the National Beer Wholesalers Association and American Hotel and Lodging Association PACs.

With a war backed by the United States and Israel in the Middle East and a recent Pew Research Center poll showing the majority of U.S. adults now have an unfavorable view of Israel, voters are taking a closer look at candidates who accept money from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, one of Perez’s largest donors.

Hennrich has pledged to not accept AIPAC money during his 2026 campaign. The watchdog group Track AIPAC, which follows pro-Israel political campaign spending in the United States, has endorsed Hennrich in the 3rd District race.