(The Center Square) – It’s been two days since the general election and the race for Washington’s 3rd Congressional District is still too close to call.
U.S. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Wash., is the incumbent House representative in the district. She is currently leading Republican challenger Joe Kent by approximately 12,000 votes. A little over 80% of ballots have been counted so far.
With 100,000 to 120,000 ballots left to be counted, the race remains close. Kent called on his supporters to ensure that their ballots have been accepted.
“It’s still too early to call and there’s a lot of ballots out there to collect,” Kent said in a social media post .
The district covers multiple counties in southwest Washington. The state’s fourth largest city, Vancouver, lies within the district. Notably, the city saw national attention after a suspect committed arson on a ballot box , damaging 488 mail-in ballots.
Gluesenkamp Perez’s priorities include providing more federal funding to boost police officer and firefighter pay to improve retention, bringing down the cost of housing, higher wages for workers, tax rebates for energy efficiency upgrades, and increasing U.S. border security.