SW Washington Democrat appears to align with GOP on Joe Biden’s fitness for office

Oregon’s elected Democrats are in lock-step behind Vice President Kamala Harris as the party’s presumptive presidential nominee.

But across the river from Oregon in southwest Washington, U.S. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, a first-term Democrat, is cutting a slightly different path when it comes to President Joe Biden’s remaining time in office.

On Sunday, Gluesenkamp Perez applauded Biden’s decision to step away from the 2024 presidential race. “I’m sure this was not an easy decision for him to make, and I believe he made it with the national interest in mind,” she wrote in a prepared statement.

Gluesenkamp Perez had been among an early wave of Democrats, including Oregon’s U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer, to call for Biden to bow out of the election days before he did so.

On Sunday, though, Gluesenkamp Perez went further than any Oregon Democrat, appearing to again suggest that Biden resign from office. “My job is to represent everyone in southwest Washington, and most of them do not have confidence in the President’s fitness to serve,” she wrote. “They deserve to have their confidence restored.”

That position — a reflection of her tough reelection campaign against Republican Joe Kent in a district former President Donald Trump won in 2020 — puts her more closely in line with Republican members of Oregon’s congressional delegation.

U.S. Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer, R-Dist. 5, said Sunday: “I’m concerned that President Biden is unfit to carry out the demanding responsibilities that come with being the leader of the free world. If he’s unable to run for reelection, he shouldn’t be making day-to-day decisions that impact our national security.”

On Monday, U.S. Rep. Cliff Bentz, R-Dist. 2, told The Oregonian/OregonLive that he agreed with Chavez-DeRemer. “He should consider stepping down,” he said.

— Beth Slovic is a deputy editor on the public safety and breaking news team. Reach her at 503-221-8551 or bslovic@oregonian.com.

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