The Case Against John Braun

To: Interested Parties
From: Lindsay Reilly, Mountain West Regional Press Secretary
Date: August 4, 2026
Subject: The Case Against John Braun

A fifth-generation Washingtonian, former small business owner, and working mom, Marie Gluesenkamp Perez used to fix up cars; now she’s working to fix Congress by making it work for the people – not political insiders. Marie is a common-sense legislator who works across the aisle to secure bipartisan wins, even if that means standing up to leaders of her own party. A political outsider, Marie has no problem ruffling feathers in Washington, D.C. to get results. A champion for the people, Marie refuses to bow to special interests and she’s working to stop the self-dealing in Congress – including by stopping automatic pay raises for members of Congress, banning congressional stock trading, and closing the revolving door between lawmakers-turned-lobbyists.

Washingtonians know Marie for her strong record of getting things done for her community, including passing new laws to lower housing costs, invest in rural schools and infrastructure, lower Washingtonians’ energy costs, empower high school students to get college credit for shop classes, and crack down on illegal fentanyl. Marie has also brought home federal support for projects across every county in the district, including funding and cost-saving measures for the I-5 bridge. This November, Washingtonians will once again send Marie to Congress because they know she works for them – not for a political party.

A career politician and political insider, John Braun has spent his 14 years in Olympia voting to enrich himself, help his special interest donors, and pad the pockets of the ultra-wealthy at the expense of everyone else. Braun helped draft the largest property tax hike in state history, a deal that also included a 40% tax break for Braun’s own company. He also repeatedly voted to raise costs on families, including by prioritizing the profits of his Big Pharma and health insurance industry donors, and he is a strong supporter of D.C. Republicans’ scheme to hike the national debt and gut Washingtonians’ health care in order to pay for tax cuts for billionaires. An extremist who opposes abortion rights and wants to end vote-by-mail, Braun is out of step with Washington’s Third Congressional District.

Marie is a proven winner in Washington’s Third, a R+2 district where voters have repeatedly proven they prefer a pragmatic leader who’s willing to shake up the status quo. While Olympia insider John Braun offers the kind of self-dealing political agenda that Southwest Washington hates, Marie is a change-maker who’s willing to stand up to leaders of both parties to get Congress working for working people.

A Political Insider Who Fights For Himself, His Special Interest Donors, And The Ultra-Wealthy

The ultimate political insider, Braun is one of Washington state’s most powerful politicians. But rather than fight for working families, Braun is using his power to fight for his own bottom line. Braun was the chief architect of the largest property tax increase in state history – $1.6 billion – a deal that also included a 40% tax break for his own company. The new tax break for manufacturing companies like Braun’s was added “with little notice” and in the middle of the night, raising eyebrows across the state. After more than a decade climbing the political ladder in Olympia, Braun would fit right in with career politicians in Washington, D.C. who are working to enrich themselves by hiking costs on families.

Braun has a clear track record of doing his donors’ bidding in Olympia. Roughly 10% of Braun’s state campaign cash Braun comes from health insurance and pharmaceutical interests, which could explain why Braun consistently votes in Big Pharma and the health insurance industry’s interests to keep patients paying more for health care. Braun voted against protecting coverage for people with preexisting conditions, voted against efforts that could lower health insurance premiums, and voted to protect Big Pharma’s ability to hike prescription drug costs. If Braun got his way, Southwest Washington families would pay higher premiums and higher drug prices while the corporations funding Braun’s campaigns get exactly what they paid for.

A multi-millionaire, Braun has repeatedly voted to protect the ultra-wealthy from paying their fair share, at the expense of Washington families. Braun has become the poster child for opposing a new tax credit that would help small businesses and benefit more than 810,000 of the state’s working families. Braun also voted against taxing stocks and bonds that are worth more than $50 million to fund K-12 education, child care, early learning, and higher education programs.

The ultimate Olympia insider, Braun is a career politician who broke his term limit pledge to continue serving himself, his donors, and the ultra-wealthy. In sharp contrast, Marie Gluesenkamp-Perez understands that elected public service should be about delivering for your community, not getting rich. That’s why she stopped Congress from giving itself a taxpayer-funded pay raise, is working across the aisle to stop automatic pay raises in the future, and is backing legislation to ban members of Congress from trading stocks.

A Reliable Rubberstamp for a Reckless, Cost-Hiking Agenda

Continuing his record of backing legislation that helps the ultra-wealthy at the expense of working people, John Braun wasted no time backing D.C. Republicans’ reckless, cost-hiking agenda. Braun is a vocal cheerleader for legislation that funds permanent tax cuts for billionaires by ballooning the national debt by $3.4 trillion and gutting Washingtonians’ health care and access to food assistance programs. The Braun-backed bill is projected to kick nearly 300,000 Washingtonians off their health insurance, including more than 30,000 people in the Third District. At least 13 clinics in Washington have already closed or are in the process of closing since the bill passed, including at least two in WA-03, while 14 hospitals across the state remain at risk. Despite the health care cuts, Braun went so far to say it was “fundamentally not true” that vulnerable Washingtonians would lose access to health care, describing concerns as “fearmongering.” However, families in rural parts of WA-03 are especially susceptible to the Braun-backed cuts. Despite working families losing out, Braun set up an “usually boisterous” campaign in support of the legislation, making clear his allegiance is not to working Washingtonians.

Braun also supports the war in Iran, a conflict that is hiking prices on families and farmers across Washington. Gas prices “hit a new record” in the state, an especially significant blow to rural Washingtonians in the Third District who have to drive long distances for groceries, health care, and more. Petroleum-derived products like clothes, tires, and other everyday necessities are also expected to get more expensive because of the Braun-backed war of choice. Meanwhile, farmers across the state are paying more for diesel, shipping, and fertilizer, “a triple hit on their finances” that’s making it difficult to make profit.

After more than a decade in Olympia, Braun has a clear track record of voting to jack up costs on working families. He voted against making housing more affordable, against lowering interest rates on medical debt, and against measures to lower prescription drug prices. And as a slap in the face to families, Braun repeatedly sponsored and voted to eliminate or undermine paid family and medical leave in Washington state. He also fought against lowering child care costs, making life more expensive for working families with young children, and opposed strengthening food assistance programs for seniors and children.

A working mom and small business owner, Marie Gluesenkamp Perez is fighting to lower taxes for families and make Southwest Washington more affordable. She supports eliminating taxes on tips, has fought to cut red tape for small businesses, is a strong advocate for affordable child care, and has introduced legislation to crack down on corporate price gouging. Marie has a track record of voting to extend tax credits that keep health care premiums affordable, pushing to lower prescription drug prices, and fighting to increase the housing supply to bring down the cost of rent.

An Anti-Abortion Extremist Who Is Out Of Step With Southwest Washington

John Braun is way too extreme to represent Washington’s Third Congressional District. Braun has been anti-abortion his entire career, with a long history of voting to restrict women’s access to vital health care. He voted against women having access to emergency care to end their pregnancies for medical reasons, against requiring state insurance to cover abortion and contraception, against a bill to protect doctors and other health care providers who prescribe abortion medications, and against shielding abortion providers from out-of-state criminal investigation or prosecution. Braun would join extremists in Congress seeking to ban abortion and birth control. Unlike Braun, Marie Gluesenkamp Perez thinks women, not politicians, should get to make their own decisions about if and when to grow their family.

Braun is also a threat to Washington’s statewide vote-by-mail system. Washington is one of a handful of states that sends every registered voter a ballot, a safe and secure method that makes it easier for working people to vote while creating an auditable paper trail. Braun advocates for in-person voting on election day, completely dismissing the reality of working people and saying that Washingtonians who enacted voting by mail “g[ot] it wrong.” Meanwhile, Marie has made protecting mail-in voting a cornerstone of her work in Congress.

While Braun focuses on restricting abortion, rewarding the ultra-rich and well-connected, and ending mail-in voting, Marie is championing common-sense issues that matter to Southwest Washingtonians. On top of her work to lower costs for families, Marie is leading efforts to bring back American manufacturing and revitalize the timber industry, invest in rural communities, crack down on illegal fentanyl, protect local salmon populations, and stop greedy corporations from preventing farmers, mechanics, and small business owners from repairing their own equipment. She is the fighter Washingtonians deserve in Congress.

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING

Seattle Times: How tax cuts for business showed up — quietly — in state budget as homeowner taxes increased [Seattle Times, 7/2/17]

“Braun is president of Braun Northwest, a company that builds emergency vehicles and would benefit from the tax cut.”

Washington State Standard: GOP state senators in WA go to bat for Trump’s megabill [Washington State Standard, 7/22/25]

Oregon Public Broadcasting: Small Washington hospitals brace for ‘severe’ effects of Medicaid cuts [Oregon Public Broadcasting, 7/9/25]

“On Washington state’s southwest coast, the critical access hospital Ocean Beach Health is facing serious threats from Medicaid cuts… Forty percent of Ocean Beach Health’s income is from patients who are on Medicaid, Keane said. With razor-thin profits and an estimated 250,000 Washingtonians who could lose their health coverage, the hospital’s budget will become tighter. Last year, they made just $8,000 in profits.”

The Daily News: Letter to the Editor | Braun will likely be Trump puppet [The Daily News, 4/23/26]

The Reflector: MGP highlights reputation for breaking with Democrats with recent Fox News ranking [The Reflector, 1/8/26]

“Washington’s Third Congressional District U.S. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Skamania, has made a habit of breaking with her political party… Gluesenkamp Perez ranks No. 2 on the list for bucking her party’s expectations”

The Reflector: Gluesenkamp Perez pushes to preserve Washington state mail-in ballot access [The Reflector, 5/6/26]

The Chronicle: Gluesenkamp Perez’s bipartisan Build Now Act becomes law [The Chronicle, 7/13/26]

The Chronicle: Rep. Gluesenkamp Perez’s proposal to lower energy costs for residents of mobile homes signed into law [The Chronicle, 2/16/26]

The Chronicle: Gluesenkamp Perez announces passage of rural schools and infrastructure funding [The Chronicle, 12/16/25]

“A heap of funding for schools, roads and other services in rural areas passed the U.S. House of Representatives last week and now heads to the president’s desk for approval … The congresswoman was part of the team to introduce the bill in February. Since then, she has continued to send letters to House leadership highlighting the consequences of the funding lapse.”

E&E News: Trump backs Democrat’s sea lion killing bill [E&E News, 7/13/26]

“H.R. 6927, the Protecting Columbia River Salmon Act, from Washington Democratic Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, would make it easier for Native American tribes to remove sea lions from certain parts of the Columbia River.”

The Reflector: MGP, Sens. Murray and Cantell secure $1.499 billion for I-5 bridge replacement [The Reflector, 7/15/24]

The Chronicle: Gluesenkamp Perez supports bill to combat corporate price discrimination [The Chronicle, 6/29/26]

The Wahkiakum County Eagle: MGP introduces legislation to bring transparency [The Wahkiakum County Eagle, 6/26/25]

PATH TO VICTORY

Marie Gluesenkamp Perez has proven she knows how to appeal to voters across Washington’s Third Congressional District. Marie won the district back from Republicans for the first time in more than a decade in 2022 with a focus on pragmatic solutions to the issues that Southwest Washington cares about. Marie has consistently overperformed the top of the ticket, winning re-election in 2024 by nearly 4 points while her district voted Republican at the presidential level by nearly 3.5 points.

In a midterm election year where voters are souring on the President’s cost-hiking agenda that’s backed by John Braun, Marie has every advantage she needs to once again win Washington’s Third Congressional District. Marie enters the general election with a massive $2 million war chest, empowering her to communicate her message directly to voters from now through Election Day. As a better candidate with a better message and better campaign that’s bolstered by her long list of bipartisan accomplishments and record of standing up to leaders of both parties, Marie is primed to once again win re-election this November.

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