State Sen. John Braun is about as respectable a Republican as one can find in Washington state these days.
The state GOP is in the clutches of MAGA nutballs, but Braun, the Senate minority leader in Olympia, is a much more traditional small-government, low-taxes conservative. In a race for a congressional seat in a district that leans Republican, you would think he might be coasting to victory.
But he isn’t.
Besides the reddish nature of the district, Gluesenkamp Perez has had to deal with progressives who find her independent streak too heretical for their tastes, but that same independence may have increased her appeal across party lines.
Braun, on the other hand, faces the challenge of membership in a party headed by the worst president in American history.
A political action committee backed by President Donald Trump has bought Braun $1.5 million in TV and radio ad time, so he can hardly split from his president. But the Trump connection is also Braun’s biggest demerit.
Democrats are aghast at all that Trump hath wrought and are revved up to vote. Independents have soured on the president and his party. And many Republicans are disillusioned with Trump due to his calamitous tariffs, his ludicrous war with Iran and his stonewalling on the Epstein files.
That enthusiasm gap is working against Republican candidates. Even in Washington’s solidly red 4th and 5th districts, Democrats are given a longshot at pulling upsets.
In the 3rd district, Braun has his throttle at top speed, but he is tethered to a massive weight that may keep him from going anywhere.
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