Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez bills herself as a moderate Democrat, but the Washington State congresswoman has embraced a far-left anti-police group that has helped send hundreds of thousands of dollars into her reelection campaign.
Fuse Washington advocates for various radical reforms, including defunding the police, giving unemployment benefits to illegal immigrants, and supporting a guaranteed basic income. The group has since endorsed Gluesenkamp Perez and dumped more than $400,000 into its affiliated super PAC, Together for Progress. The political action committee in turn spent slightly more than that amount on the congresswoman's 2024 reelection, giving her nearly exclusive support.
Gluesenkamp Perez appeared at a fundraiser for Fuse as a "special guest" in June. Her efforts to position herself as a moderate, however, stand in stark contrast with the far-left ally she credits with her 2022 victory.
"My race for Washington's Third Congressional District was a complete dogfight, and Fuse was sincerely one of the only organizations that stepped in and saw the urgency and the opportunity," she said in a May 2023 video on Fuse's Instagram page. "I felt like I didn't have an ally, and, Fuse was that. I could not have been successful without the leadership that you all showed."
The congresswoman has billed herself as a "working-class" moderate Democrat, introducing herself to voters during the 2022 election as a hands-on auto shop owner willing to get her fingernails dirty—an image that remains central to her reelection campaign. The co-chairwoman of the Blue Dog Coalition, Gluesenkamp Perez boasts that she's "one of the most bipartisan lawmakers in the House." Of the 54 bills the House passed last year, Gluesenkamp Perez voted with President Joe Biden only 54 percent of the time, according to FiveThirtyEight data. She opposed Biden's student loan debt relief and voted to send military support to Israel.
Fuse, by comparison, advocates for a litany of progressive positions. In June 2020, the group called on local and state officials to support policies that "redirect police department funding to community-based alternatives."
"The incredible protests for racial justice taking place across the country have sparked a long-overdue discussion about police violence in America," the group wrote.
In January 2021, Fuse pushed more aggressive rhetoric.
"We have to start reimagining what community safety should look like and holding ourselves and our governments accountable for these systems of oppression and white supremacy," Fuse wrote. "At a minimum, we need stronger laws that reduce the use of force, demilitarize police, redirect funding to community alternatives, and hold law enforcement accountable."
Gluesenkamp Perez campaign spokesman Emmett Avery told the Washington Free Beacon that the congresswoman is "honored to be the only candidate in this race endorsed by WACOPS, Washington's oldest and largest police union representing rank-and-file police officers, and by Republican and Independent county sheriffs in Southwest Washington."
Fuse, meanwhile, has advocated for Washington State legislation that would give illegal immigrants access to unemployment insurance benefits. It also pushes for legislation guaranteeing a universal basic income through "monthly cash payments directly to the people that need it most," blames Big Oil for "price gouging," wants to create a wealth tax, and aims to restrict access to assault weapons.
The super PAC Together for Progress, which on its statement of organization lists Fuse's site as its own and gives a Fuse email address, has spent more than $280,000 on ads supporting Gluesenkamp Perez's campaign, Federal Election Commission filings show. It has spent more than $150,000 against the congresswoman's Republican opponent, Joe Kent.
The $439,000 that Together for Progress has spent supporting Gluesenkamp Perez slightly eclipses the $407,500 that Fuse injected into the PAC, according to FEC filings.
Together for Progress has focused almost exclusively on Gluesenkamp Perez's reelection, spending only a few hundred dollars on most other Washington State candidates. The only exception is Sen. Maria Cantwell (D., Wash.), who received just over $2,000 in support.
Fuse also backed Gluesenkamp Perez in her first run for Congress in 2022, directly contributing more than $28,000 in that race while sending nearly $390,000 to Together for Progress, FEC filings show. Together for Progress put about $760,000 toward that race, well more than half of the total it raised. Of that, more than $700,000 was spent on ads attacking Kent.
Gluesenkamp Perez, arguably one of the most vulnerable House Democrats, will face off against Kent in a rematch of the 2022 election. A June poll by the Northwest Progressive Institute found the two candidates were nearly even, with 45 percent of respondents saying they'd vote for Gluesenkamp Perez and 46 percent saying they'd vote for Kent.
Fuse did not respond to requests for comment.