High-stakes race for Washington 3rd Congressional District

With just over a week to go, the District 3 race is getting down to the wire in Southwest Washington. Fox 13 sat down with incumbent Democrat Marie Gluesen, Kemp Perez, and Republican State Senator John Braun to talk about some of the most pressing issues Washingtonians face in this district. As Jennifer Dowling reports, affordability is one of the hottest topics. Gas prices are very outrageous. All over Washington State, people are feeling the pinch when it comes to affordability. In District 3, where State Senator John Braun and incumbent US Representative Marie Glusenkamp-Perez are fighting for votes, it's top of mind. The most important thing to me is grocery prices. I'm watching to see where our gas prices go. We took a FOX 13 online poll and affordability came out on top. FOX 13 sat down with both candidates to talk about how they would bring costs down. But the top issue for folks without a question is affordability. Ensuring that people are able to make an honest living. Marie Glusenkamp-Perez said she would continue to vote against the war in Iran and supports freezing the federal and state gas taxes to lower prices. She also supports low cost hydropower, permitting reform to build transmission lines, helping rate payers through infrastructure and empowering local businesses. Investing in sewer and wastewater treatment, it needs to be easier for smaller businesses to be able to bring dumping cases through the US Trade Commission. The biggest thing that we're hearing about, I mean, the fuel prices are spiraling out of control. The war in Iran has just been a reckless pursuit. Braun says he supports freezing state and federal gas taxes, easing regulations, developing hydropower capacity, investing in transmission lines, and converting the closed Lewis County coal plant into gas. Also simplifying the permitting process for small modular nuclear reactors. Allowing for easier regulatory climate, whether it's for gas or solar or wind or big one at the federal level would be regulation of the nuclear energy. Tariffs have also driven up costs. Both candidates say they'd like to see them used in a different way. I believe tariffs are a tool, but you don't flip a switch and rebuild domestic manufacturing or rebuild our mills. It has to be a well thought out, well executed industrial policy, which I haven't seen. Indiscriminate use of tariffs can actually be harmful. I can bring a perspective that helps the administration understand where tariffs might be the right answer. We also asked both candidates how they would tackle worker safety following the tragic explosion at Longview's Nippon Dano Wave packaging mill. So I think there's work to do at the federal level to make sure states like Washington are doing a better job of policing and monitoring safe practices in our industry across the state. Working to get more normal people at the table on the chemical safety board, people with real mill experience, real trades experience. Finally on immigration, both say they believe in an enforceable border, but express frustrations with enforcement. I've heard from some of my law enforcement that the sort of expedited, just get them out the door, get them in a shirt, get them out, you know, out, you know, implementing law has not been productive to our law enforcement's ability to exercise these tools in a responsible way. You should focus on folks, focus on individuals who've committed crimes. I think that's the right approach, but the safest way to do that is to allow federal law enforcement to cooperate professionally with local and state law enforcement In District 3, Jennifer Dowling, FOX 13 News.