Wary of Trump, some Herrera Beutler supporters are aligning with a Democrat

Mark Jager is facing an important question: Who should he vote for in the Southwest Washington congressional race?

The 64-year-old is among the 49,001 people who voted for U.S. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler in the Aug. 2 primaries. After the incumbent’s middle-of-the-road campaign failed, Jager and many of the congresswoman’s supporters who spoke to OPB say they are looking at the November ballot like a fork in the road.

“I thought Jaime had a big enough lead,” said Jager, a Vancouver retiree. “I was just shocked at the results. And now here we are.”

One option is Joe Kent, a Republican endorsed by Donald Trump whose central goal was to topple Herrera Beutler as retribution for her impeachment vote. The other choice is a Democrat: auto shop owner Marie Gluesenkamp Perez.

Jager, who has never voted for a Democrat for federal office and supported Trump in both 2016 and 2020, said he’s now leaning toward Gluesenkamp Perez.

“I’m not against going to the other side, even though I haven’t voted Democratic,” he said. “I think I’ve changed over the years since Trump, where I am open to some change. If I had to choose, I would not go back to what we had during the years of Trump.”