On This Page
Meet marie
Marie’s deep roots in Washington State, her commitment to her family and community, and her relentless dedication to everyday people make her a true representative of her district. She is not just a politician. She is a neighbor, a friend, and a tireless advocate for the people and values of Washington’s third district.
Fifth-generation Washingtonian. Small business owner. Mother to a toddler. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez’s working-class roots run deep in Washington State. Her great-great-grandpa, Bert Gilmore, was the quarry foreman who helped build the Washington State Capitol. Her grandmother, Carol Gilmore, was born in a logging camp in Sappho, Washington. Marie’s own parents met at Western Washington University, after her father immigrated from Mexico. Before being elected to Congress, Marie built an independent auto repair shop with her husband, Dean. They grew the shop to six bays and proudly provide living wage jobs in the trades. Like so many working families in Washington, Marie and Dean know how tough it’s been to navigate this economy. She worries about the rising cost of essentials like childcare, gas, and medicine. Marie’s connection to her district, Washington’s third, is deeply personal. She and Dean are raising their young son in a home they built themselves, just like many of their neighbors in rural Skamania County. Her experiences as a small business owner, mother, and active community member give her a unique perspective on the challenges faced by the people she represents.
IN CONGRESS
Marie is ranked as one of the most bipartisan lawmakers in the House and regularly works across the aisle to fix what’s broken and make things easier for working families. Marie is focused on what working people want, like good jobs that don’t require a college degree, lower costs for medication and childcare, and safer communities. Marie was the kind of working-class Washingtonian left behind in this economy. The political establishment in DC ignored folks like her. She shocked the nation in 2022 and won a highly competitive race by less than one percentage point by doing something most politicians don’t: listening to her community. Now, Marie is running for re-election to continue fighting to protect our rights, defend democracy, and level the playing field for working families like hers. Marie’s deep roots in Washington State, her commitment to her family and community, and her relentless dedication to everyday people make her a true representative of her district. She is not just a politician. She is a neighbor, a friend, and a tireless advocate for the people and values of Washington’s third district.
What Marie Believes
As a fifth generation Washingtonian, a small business owner in the trades, and a pro-choice mom, Marie brings a unique perspective to Congress. She’s working hard for Southwest Washington – and delivering real results.
Fighting for Reproductive
Freedom Marie is fighting to ensure every woman can see a doctor whenever she wants, for whatever reason. Because that is her right, and once freedom is limited, it’s lost. She is protecting access to critical medical care and the freedom of women to choose what is right for their families and themselves. Marie will do whatever it takes to prevent a national abortion ban, which would override the will of the people of Washington State.
Safeguarding Our Communities & Securing the Border
Marie will always fight to make sure state and local law enforcement agencies have the resources they need to keep Fentanyl and illegal guns off of our streets. Marie believes we need to provide more federal funding to boost officer and firefighter pay to improve retention rather than furnish departments with unnecessary line items like night-vision goggles.
Championing the Right to Repair
Marie and her husband have run an auto repair shop, so she knows firsthand how important it is to be able to repair your own equipment. She is working to stop manufacturers of farm and consumer equipment from gouging their customers by forcing them to pay the original manufacturer for repairs.
Supporting Working Families
Marie and her husband built their home by hand to save money and brought their child to work because daycare was too expensive. In Congress, she is working to bring down the cost of housing, increase choices for childcare options, and cut out the middlemen who jack up the cost of healthcare.
Ending the influence of Corporate Money
Marie is in Congress to fight for working people — not special interests. Her campaign doesn’t take money from special interests (like drug companies). She also believes that we need to ban our Representatives from other behaviors that erode public trust, like trading individual stocks.
Fighting Inflation
Marie has been working in Congress to combat unfair business practices — like opposing mergers of major grocery chains and opposing deceptive “Shrinkflation” food packaging. She believes a well trained workforce and higher wages for workers will increase the labor force and stabilize consumer prices across the economy. She believes abundant and cheap energy from traditional and renewable sources will provide further pricing relief to consumers.
Acting on the Climate Crisis
Marie believes that climate change is real and is man-made. She also believes that increasingly severe weather events caused by climate change disproportionately affect the working class. Marie has also championed tax-rebates for energy efficiency upgrades for working class families, like weather skirting for mobile homes.
Increasing Accessibility of Childcare Marie is committed to making childcare more accessible and increasing flexibility for working families — particularly in rural communities. She supports re-introducing and expanding the Child Tax Credit, which makes it easier for parents to make the choices that best work for their families, whether that’s paying a family member or going to a traditional daycare.
Addressing Substance Abuse
Marie believes in fighting the drug crisis through increased border security, stricter punishments for sale and possession, expanded access to treatment and rehab, and better job opportunities. She believes it needs to be easier to find help getting sober than it is to find a dealer.
Supporting Small Business
As someone who ran an auto repair shop, Marie knows the hoops small business owners jump through to start, run, and grow their business. When her shop applied for a loan from the Small Business Administration (SBA), the application was the size of a phone book and took almost a year to complete. That’s why in Congress she’s fighting to streamline the application process for SBA loans and empower young people in the trades to start their own small businesses.
Boosting American Manufacturing
Marie knows Washington has some of the best workers in the world. She is supporting efforts to create American jobs and making sure American workers have the training needed to do those jobs at good pay. She is fighting unfair trade and work practices by competitors like China to create a level playing field for American workers.
Investing in Career and Technical Education Marie knows many good jobs don’t require a 4-year degree. In Congress, she is working to increase access to apprenticeships and technical training and reduce the number of jobs that require applicants to have expensive college degrees. She is also working to allow Pell Grants to apply to job training, not just college degrees.
Supporting Critical Infrastructure
Marie is working to make sure Southwest Washington is getting its fair share of tax dollars back from Washington D.C. She worked to secure $600 million in funding needed to replace the 100-year-old I-5 bridge. This financial support is a down payment and essential to repair the bridge and avoid the need for tolls.
Protecting Social Security and Medicare Marie knows Social Security and Medicare are the backbone of the middle class. She will protect the benefits that seniors in Southwest Washington are counting on for their retirement and that they’ve paid into their whole working lives. Marie supports common sense legislation to strengthen the Social Security program for the long-run without raising the retirement age or reducing benefits.