| State: | Washington |
| District Number: | 3 |
| Image Caption: | Interactive map of district boundaries since January 3, 2023 (Vancouver's Clark County highlighted, where almost two-thirds of the district's population resides) |
| Representative: | Marie Gluesenkamp Perez |
| Party: | Democratic |
| Residence: | Stevenson |
| Population: | 789,222 |
| Population Year: | 2022 |
| Median Income: | $85,196[1] |
| Percent White: | 75.2 |
| Percent Black: | 1.6 |
| Percent Asian: | 3.6 |
| Percent Native American: | 0.9 |
| Percent Hispanic: | 11.0 |
| Percent Native Hawaiian: | 0.8 |
| Percent More Than One Race: | 6.4 |
| Percent Other Race: | 0.4 |
| Cpvi: | R+5[2] |
Washington's 3rd congressional district encompasses the southernmost portion of Western Washington. It includes the counties of Lewis, Pacific, Wahkiakum, Cowlitz, Clark, and Skamania; as well as a small portion of southern Thurston county.
The district is represented by Democrat Marie Gluesenkamp Perez. It was one of five districts that would have voted for Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election had they existed in their current configuration while being won or held by a Democrat in 2022.[3]
Established after the 1900 census, the 3rd district was represented by Democrats for most of the latter half of the 20th century, until Jolene Unsoeld was defeated by Republican Linda Smith as part of the Republican Revolution of 1994. Smith retired after two terms and was succeeded by Democrat Brian Baird. Baird announced he wouldn't run for re-election in 2010, with Republican Jaime Herrera Beutler winning the seat, during the general election, against Democratic state representative Denny Heck, who was subsequently elected in Washington's 10th congressional district. Herrera Beutler retained her seat over Democrat Jon T. Haugen in 2012. In 2014, she beat Democratic nominee Bob Dingethal.
In presidential elections, the 3rd district is rather competitive. It is the only part of Western Washington to not swing heavily to the Democrats during the 1990s, and it is one of the few districts in the area that cannot be considered safe for either party. It is home to Lewis County, far and away the most conservative county in western Washington. Additionally, most of the district is located in the Portland, Oregon, market; voting patterns there are somewhat different from those in the areas closer to Seattle. George W. Bush narrowly carried the district in 2000 with 48% of the vote and again in 2004 with 50%. The district swung Democratic in 2008, giving Barack Obama 52% of the vote and 46% to John McCain. However, redistricting (see below) extended the district further east and made it slightly more Republican than its predecessor; had the current boundaries been in effect for the 2008 election, Obama would have only defeated McCain by 50.9 percent to 47.1 percent. In 2012, it gave Mitt Romney 49.6% to Obama's 47.9%. In the 2016 presidential election, Republican nominee Donald Trump won the district 49.9% to Hillary Clinton's 42.5%. Trump won every county entirely within the district except Clark County, which he lost by only 316 votes out of over two hundred thousand, including carrying three counties (Pacific, Wahkiakum and Cowlitz) that voted for Walter Mondale in 1984. In 2020, Trump won the district 50.6% to Joe Biden's 46.9%, however, the incumbent Republican Congresswoman, Jaime Herrera Beutler, over-performed the incumbent President, winning the district by a margin of 13%.
The Washington State Redistricting Commission is charged with adjusting congressional and legislative district boundaries after each decennial census. Given Washington State's growth over the prior decade, Washington gained an additional congressional district for the 113th congress. The third district needed to lose 106,894 people in the redistricting process in order to meet the new ideal population of 672,454.[4] On September 13, 2011, the four voting commissioners on the Redistricting Commission submitted draft proposals for the congressional map. All four draft proposals left the entirety of Lewis, Wahkiakum, Cowlitz, and Clark Counties, and all or most of Skamania county in the 3rd district. In addition, each proposal added population from one or more of Pacific, Thurston, Pierce, or Klickitat counties.[5] [6] [7] [8]
The final approved map for the 3rd district included the entirety of Klickitat, Skamania, Clark, Cowlitz, Wahkiakum, Pacific, and Lewis counties, with the extreme southern part of Thurston County south of highway 12, Washington State Route 507, and the Vail Cut Off Road.[9]
Following the 2020 census, the 3rd district was slightly changed during redistricting, losing Klickitat county to the 4th district and gaining an additional small sliver of Thurston county from the 10th district. The new 3rd district was marginally more favorable for Republicans, voting for Trump in 2020 by a margin of 4.2%, as opposed to the old district's 3.7%. Despite this, Democratic challenger Marie Gluesenkamp Pérez bested Republican nominee Joe Kent by 2,629 votes in 2022.[10] It was one of five districts that would have voted for Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election had they existed in their current configuration while being won or held by a Democrat in 2022.
| Year | Office | Results | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1952 | President | Eisenhower 54 - 46% | |
| 1956 | President | Eisenhower 52 - 48% | |
| 1960 | President | Kennedy 50 - 50% | |
| 1964 | President | Johnson 70 - 30% | |
| 1968 | President | Humphrey 52 - 42% | |
| 1972 | President | Nixon 58 - 42% | |
| 1976 | President | Carter 50 - 46% | |
| 1980 | President | Reagan 50 - 38% | |
| 1984 | President | Reagan 53 - 45% | |
| 1988 | President | Dukakis 51 - 47% | |
| 1992 | President | Clinton 42 - 33% | |
| 1996 | President | Clinton 49 - 38% | |
| 2000 | President | Bush 48 - 47% | |
| 2004 | President | Bush 50 - 48% | |
| 2008 | President | Obama 52 - 46% | |
| 2012 | President | Romney 50 - 48% | |
| 2016 | President | Trump 50 - 43% | |
| 2020 | President | Trump 51 - 47% |
| Member | Party | Term | Cong ress | Electoral history | District location | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| District established March 4, 1909 | ||||||||
| align=left | Miles Poindexter | Republican | nowrap | March 4, 1909 – March 3, 1911 | Elected in 1908. Retired to run for U.S. senator. | |||
| align=left | William La Follette | Republican | nowrap | March 4, 1911 – March 3, 1915 | Elected in 1910. Re-elected in 1912.[11] Redistricted to the . | |||
| align=left | Albert Johnson | Republican | nowrap | March 4, 1915 – March 3, 1933 | Redistricted from the and re-elected in 1914.[12] Re-elected in 1916. Re-elected in 1918. Re-elected in 1920. Re-elected in 1922. Re-elected in 1924. Re-elected in 1926. Re-elected in 1928. Re-elected in 1930. Lost re-election. | |||
| align=left | Martin F. Smith | Democratic | nowrap | March 4, 1933 – January 3, 1943 | Elected in 1932. Re-elected in 1934. Re-elected in 1936. Re-elected in 1938. Re-elected in 1940. Lost re-election. | |||
| align=left | Fred B. Norman | Republican | nowrap | January 3, 1943 – January 3, 1945 | Elected in 1942. Lost re-election. | |||
| align=left | Charles R. Savage | Democratic | nowrap | January 3, 1945 – January 3, 1947 | Elected in 1944. Lost re-election. | |||
| align=left | Fred B. Norman | Republican | nowrap | January 3, 1947 – April 18, 1947 | Elected in 1946. Died. | |||
| Vacant | nowrap | April 18, 1947 – July 7, 1947 | ||||||
| align=left | Russell V. Mack | Republican | nowrap | July 7, 1947 – March 28, 1960 | Elected to finish Norman's term. Re-elected in 1948. Re-elected in 1950. Re-elected in 1952. Re-elected in 1954. Re-elected in 1956. Re-elected in 1958. Died. | |||
| Vacant | nowrap | March 28, 1960 – November 8, 1960 | ||||||
| align=left | Julia Butler Hansen | Democratic | nowrap | November 8, 1960 – December 31, 1974 | Elected to finish Mack's term. Also elected to the next term. Re-elected in 1962. Re-elected in 1964. Re-elected in 1966. Re-elected in 1968. Re-elected in 1970. Re-elected in 1972. Retired and resigned early. | |||
| Vacant | nowrap | December 31, 1974 – January 3, 1975 | ||||||
| align=left | Don Bonker | Democratic | nowrap | January 3, 1975 – January 3, 1989 | Elected in 1974. Re-elected in 1976. Re-elected in 1978. Re-elected in 1980. Re-elected in 1982. Re-elected in 1984. Re-elected in 1986. Retired. | |||
| align=left | Jolene Unsoeld | Democratic | nowrap | January 3, 1989 – January 3, 1995 | Elected in 1988. Re-elected in 1990. Re-elected in 1992. Lost re-election. | |||
| align=left | Linda Smith | Republican | nowrap | January 3, 1995 – January 3, 1999 | Elected in 1994. Re-elected in 1996. Retired to run for U.S. senator. | |||
Brian Baird | Democratic | January 3, 1999 – January 3, 2011 | Elected in 1998. Re-elected in 2000. Re-elected in 2002. Re-elected in 2004. Re-elected in 2006. Re-elected in 2008. Retired. | |||||
| 2003–2013 | ||||||||
Jaime Herrera Beutler | Republican | January 3, 2011 – January 3, 2023 | Elected in 2010. Re-elected in 2012. Re-elected in 2014. Re-elected in 2016. Re-elected in 2018. Re-elected in 2020. Defeated in primary. | |||||
| 2013–2023 | ||||||||
| align=left | Marie Gluesenkamp Perez | Democratic | January 3, 2023 – present | 118th | Elected in 2022. | 2023–present | ||