Veterans prove key Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez coalition

U.S. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez owes her third term, at least in part, to veterans. Many of them backed Perez, a 38-year-old centrist Democrat who never served in the military, over her Republican challenger John Braun, who served 31 years in the Navy and Navy Reserve. At Perez’s election night party inside the historic Providence Academy ballroom, a group of veterans shared some of the reasons why they turned out for Perez, including her support for Ukraine and her pushback on the Trump administration’s failure to stop Russia’s war on that country. “The people who are suffering in Ukraine are civilians,” Bob Heyman, 78, of Vancouver, said. “Putin is a killer. Trump is cozying up to killers.” Heyman served in the U.S. Navy. He sat at a table with Sam Meyle, 86, who served in the Navy, and his daughter, Kris Meyle, 56, who was in the Air Force . Standing next to the table was Camas resident Roger C. Rosenberry, 75, the president of the Military Officers Association of America’s Columbia River Chapter. He served as a U.S. Air Force officer for 21 years and with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization for 22 years. Kris Meyle said her political views skew more progressive than those of Perez, a leader of the centrist Blue Dog Democrats, but her dad convinced her to give Perez a chance. “I saw that she’s done a lot against hardcore Republicans,” Sam Meyle said. “And then I met her and got to know her, and she’s just a great person.” Sam Meyle went out of his way to support not just Perez, but her entire campaign staff. He baked batches of cookies — snickerdoodle, oatmeal raisin and peanut butter-chocolate chip — and brownies to deliver to Perez’s campaign headquarters in downtown Vancouver every week for 33 weeks during the run- up to the 2026 midterm election. Rosenberry is a decorated veteran who served in three wars. He splits his time between the home he built in Camas and one he shares in Germany with his wife, Annette, an educator and historian. He said he was a lifelong Republican until President Donald Trump came to power in 2016. “I had served under eight commanders in chief, eight presidents, in 43 years,” Rosenberry said. “And even if I didn’t vote for these people, I had complete trust in their ability to be commander in chief. The more Trump evolved, the less confidence I had.” Rosenberry had already decided to switch political parties when he began working with Perez’s predecessor, Republican Jaime Herrera Beutler, to capture World War II veterans’ stories on camera. Herrera Beutler represented the 3rd District from 2011 until Perez took over in 2023. Herrera Beutler’s vote to impeach Trump over the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol insurrection angered Southwest Washington Republicans, who then backed far-right Republican candidate Joe Kent in the 2022 primary election. Kent was an Army combat veteran who served 11 tours in the Middle East before becoming a paramilitary officer with the Central Intelligence Agency. His wife, Shannon, a Navy cryptologic technician, was killed in a 2019 bombing in Syria. Despite Braun’s and Kent’s military backgrounds, the veterans at Perez’s election night party groaned and shook their heads “no” when asked if they’d considered supporting them. “When I talked to Joe Kent the first time, the first thing I did was thank him for his service,” Rosenberry said later. “And I said, ‘I’m sorry you’re a Gold Star family, having lost your wife in Syria.’ So, sure, we had our moments bonding in that manner, but I also quickly realized that, where Jamie was not hardcore MAGA, that Joe was only there because he was MAGA. He was in Donald Trump’s pocket.” Rosenberry said he couldn’t get behind anyone belonging to Trump’s Make America Great Again movement. “With Braun, he’s a lot more savvy. He was a senior officer, and every military officer is schooled again and again in the constitutional authorities, in the rules of war,” Rosenberry said. “Marie’s oath is to the Constitution. We can’t forget that. No one is taking an oath to the president unless they’re MAGA loyalists.” Braun tried to separate himself from Trump. But Rosenberry and other veterans pointed to Braun’s endorsement from Trump and that he’d met three times with Republican Speaker of the House and Trump loyalist Mike Johnson in the months leading up to the midterm election. Braun also took millions of dollars from MAGA-aligned political action committees, the veterans said. Rosenberry said he worried that any Trump-backed candidate — including Braun — would be susceptible to outside influence, especially from Russia. “Being in Europe and being in NATO for so long, I have a different sense of these things than an average American, so the fact that Marie very quickly took an anti-war position, a very pro-Ukrainian position, was very, very close to my heart,” Rosenberry said. The former military members also praised Perez for her work on behalf of veterans and said she frequently shows up for local veterans groups. “She always makes it to Veterans Day and Memorial Day (events) as long as there’s not something going on in D.C.,” Rosenberry said. The congresswoman has already apologized for not being able to make the Veterans Day events in Vancouver this year. She will be in session in the House of Representatives. “She doesn’t miss a vote,” Rosenberry said. “The last time we spoke, she had perfect attendance.” During her two terms in Congress, Perez has voted for and helped introduce legislation benefiting veterans. She introduced the Veteran Owner-Builders Rights Act in September to expand home loans available through the Department of Veterans Affairs and give direct loans to rural veterans hoping to build their own homes. She fought to reopen a Lewis County veterans clinic. She also led a bipartisan effort on rural veteran healthcare access and introduced a bill to expand transportation for veterans seeking healthcare. Rosenberry works with VoteVets, an organization with 1.5 million members that aims to elevate veterans’ public policy concerns. That group has endorsed at least 17 Washington state veterans in recent elections, including Washington State Attorney General Nick Brown, a U.S. Army veteran, and Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs, an Army National Guard veteran, but the group did not endorse Kent or Braun. Rosenberry said he’s tried to share some wisdom from his 43 years of military and NATO service with Perez and her staff. “If I can help, I will,” Rosenberry said. “I don’t want you to think I put words in her mouth, though. I can give a veteran’s viewpoint, but she will always do her own thing.”

Related Stories