Washington state Sen. John Braun, R-Centralia, is looking to quickly close a fundraising gap in his campaign to become the congressional representative for Washington’s Third Congressional District.
He has a lot of work ahead of him to catch up with incumbent U.S. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Skamania.
Less than a month after Braun’s first local fundraising event of his campaign, John Braun For Congress announced its first fundraising update and milestone earlier this month, declaring more than $500,000 has been raised for his campaign.
According to the Federal Elections Commission (FEC), which published fundraising totals from the most recent mandatory quarterly fundraising report in the last week, the campaign has raised exactly $509,527.77. Braun’s team added in a news release that 95% of the contributions came from within Washington state.
Exact information on the source of the fundraising is not yet available on the FEC website, but the sum confirms the half a million-dollar milestone in just the first three months of the new campaign. Braun officially announced his campaign on Aug. 12.
The FEC also lists funds spent. According to the database, the John Braun for Congress campaign has spent $20,791, leaving it with $488,736 in cash on hand.
The hot start for Braun is just the beginning of what is widely expected to be one of the most expensive congressional races in the country as Republicans seek to maintain control of the U.S. House of Representatives and flip Gluesenkamp Perez’s seat back to their own party in a district that has supported President Donald Trump in each of his three races for president.
It may not be an easy task as Gluesenkamp Perez has proven to be a fundraising superstar in recent cycles. According to the FEC, Gluesenkamp Perez already has nearly $2.5 million in funding for her 2026 campaign, with a major part of that sum likely rolling over from her previous 2024 campaign.
Her campaign has also already spent more than half a million dollars, leaving her with approximately $1.8 million in cash on hand to spend.
According to the website Open Secrets, which offers fundraising statistics from previous political campaigns, the congresswoman raised approximately $3.9 million in her first race for her seat in Congress in 2022. She just barely outraised her opponent, Joe Kent, who raked in roughly $3.7 million. Open Secrets is a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that collects and compiles political funding data from a range of public sources such as the FEC and others.
In the 2024 race — again facing off against Kent — Gluesenkamp Perez raised approximately $11.5 million to put toward her campaign compared to the roughly $2.3 million raised by Kent.
Braun and Gluesenkamp Perez are not the only candidates in the race; however, they have significantly outpaced the other opponents from their parties, being the only candidates with more than $500,000.
According to FEC filings, Democratic candidate and Gluesenkamp Perez critic Brent Hennrich has raised just over $41,000 for his own campaign while Republican candidate and political outsider Antony Barran has raised $9,326.58.
