Editor,
In 2022, Marie Gluesenkamp Perez won her seat by 2,629 votes. The less-than 1% lead was held by a surge in rural Democrats. In Marie Gluesenkamp Perez's first term she has proven to be an independent thinker and proposed bills that gained bipartisan support. She has kept the doors open on a small business while raising a child. Now let’s send her back to fight for southwest Washington as representative for the Third Congressional District.
In 2022, rural Democrats started taking back the ballot box by sign waving, canvassing and filling PCO positions. Rural Lewis County had a significant increase in Democratic votes between midterms, gaining 1,510 more Democratic votes in 2022 than in 2018, while Republicans actually lost votes in that period with Joe Kent on the ticket. As rural Democrats start leading Get Out The Vote efforts, rural voters could provide a new Third Congressional District voter base securing the district blue.
Former Yelm City Councilor Ashley Lea Brooks and I met while canvassing with Dirt Road Democrats of Southwest Washington. I am a Yelm farmer and new precinct committee officer. We are part of a growing number of Democrats in southwest Washington focused on getting rural voters to the ballot box. Besides reminding voters to turn in ballots, canvassing has been a powerful way to build community, at the precinct level amongst rural Democrats that often stay in the shadows.
One Democrat we knocked on the door of was spending her Saturday at home cooking meals for a free meal program at the local church. As we breathed in the smells of roasting turkey, the Democratic voter said, “It can feel like a sea of MAGA signs out here, but you know, when you start looking around and seeing how many people don’t have MAGA signs up, I like to think they are Democrats. So many rural democrats feel intimidated by MAGA meanies, have had signs torn down or are yelled at.”
Another neighbor was brought to tears when talking about the hate she sees from MAGA extremists. “I just want politics to be boring again. Having to talk to my kid about grownups wearing the f*** Inslee shirts or f*** Biden signs on trucks, sucks.”
It will take a surge in rural Democrats in Southwest Washington to keep Joe Kent out of office. In Marie Perez’s first year in Congress she has helped to resurrect an old tradition of the Blue Dog Democrat. Now it’s time for Southwest Washington to stand strong and support our congresswoman who represents the district and not allegiance to a political agenda.
Join Dirt Road Democrats of Southwest Washington for a Ballot Box Lunch from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 26, at Cosmic Carrot Farm. We will gather for a potluck lunch, listen to speakers, and you can join teams heading out to canvas or sign wave. Get your free ticket, and sign up for updates at www.dirtroaddemocratsswwa.org.
Warren Neth
Yelm
