NEW: In the Pacific Northwest, Democratic Candidates’ Bipartisan, Freedom-First Agendas Contrast Against Republicans’ Chaos and Division

Dozens of families lined up outside the Clark County Fairgrounds here on a recent Saturday, their young kids eager to ride on tractors, toss balls into massive vacuum truck hoses and add new stickers to their tiny construction hats.

Democratic Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez stood before the crowd with her husband, Dean, and young son, ready to cut the caution tape-style ribbon that would signal the start of Dozer Days.

The construction-themed event is designed to introduce young children to careers as journeymen linemen fixing electrical lines or vacuum truck operators cleaning storm drains - the exact kinds of jobs Gluesenkamp Perez has advocated during her first term in Congress representing this rural district in southwest Washington, even if it has meant pushing back on Democratic efforts.

As Gluesenkamp Perez faces a rematch against far-right Republican Joe Kent in one of the most competitive races in the country, focusing on this corner of the Evergreen State and its issues could be the key to holding on to a district that Donald Trump carried by 4 points in 2020 and is likely to win again this November.

Two of those seats are here in the Pacific Northwest: South of Gluesenkamp Perez's district, another freshman congresswoman, Republican Lori Chavez-DeRemer, is seeking reelection in a seat that backed Joe Biden by 8 points in 2020.

For Gluesenkamp Perez, finding that balance has involved joining a bipartisan group of lawmakers in Washington, DC, for daily CrossFit workouts to find legislative partners.

"For me, it's not productive to think about it as I'm asking people to make a political choice," Gluesenkamp Perez said in an interview between campaign events. "I'm just trying to bring back power and respect to people in the trades and people in my community."

Democrats say they're optimistic about their new candidate and believe they have more experience with the new congressional map, which changed last cycle after Oregon gained a sixth seat following the 2020 census. They are also leaning into the national implications of the race.

As part of a tour through battleground districts, House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries recently held a news conference with Bynum in her Clackamas campaign office.

Bynum spoke of her own record in Salem, where she led bipartisan legislation to fund the state's semiconductor industry and backed Oregon's abortion protections, which were enacted in 2017 after Trump became president. She argued that Chavez-DeRemer had "sided with the most extreme members of her party," blasted her record on abortion and criticized her decision to endorse Trump.

"She's stood by Donald Trump at every turn," Bynum said. "She's standing by her man even after he was convicted of 34 felony counts."

Jeffries said Bynum would be a vote for passing federal abortion protections and advancing what Vice President Kamala Harris has described as an "opportunity economy." He also touted Bynum's two previous victories against Chavez-DeRemer.

Both parties recognize the significance of the two seats, which could play a role in tipping the balance of power in the House, where Democrats need a net gain of four seats to earn control.

"The Pacific Northwest is key to a House Democratic majority," Dan Gottlieb, a spokesperson for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said in a statement. "As different as these districts are, the through lines are clear: Lori Chavez-DeRemer and Joe Kent are content to stoke on the chaos and dysfunction we see in Congress and let politicians dictate women's health care decisions."

In Oregon, Democrats have pointed to Chavez-DeRemer's shifting stances on abortion. She supported the overturning of Roe v. Wade and said during her 2022 Republican primary that she would "be in favor of passing" legislation that would ban the procedure after fetal cardiac activity is detected, which is around six weeks. In Congress, she opposed legislation that would have blocked federal subsidies to insurance plans that cover abortions, but she also voted against a defense bill amendment to reimburse service members who need to travel out of state to receive abortions or other reproductive care.

[Joe Kent] also sought to move away from some of the policy positions and controversies that alienated moderates in his first run - when he called for a national abortion ban that would overturn protections in states such as Washington, spoke at a right-wing rally in DC aimed at supporting insurrectionists charged in the deadly January 6 riot, and frequently had to disavow or distance himself from White nationalists and Nazi sympathizers.

Eric Burleson, a 45-year-old saw mill worker, said…he preferred the points Gluesenkamp Perez made.

"It seems like…she was focused on what she could do for our area itself," he said.

Burleson said he voted for Kent in the 2022 general election but voted for Gluesenkamp Perez in this year's August primary after getting a personal phone call from her office when he wrote in about an issue. The Longview resident, who voted for Trump in 2016 and 2020, is the sort of voter Gluesenkamp Perez has sought to win over. Burleson said he's unsure of how he'll vote in the presidential election, but he's leaning toward Glusenkamp Perez at the congressional level.

"I don't really choose between straight party lines. I kind of go with whoever I think has the best ideas," he said. "If it's a Democrat for one office and a Republican for another one, whoever has the best ideas, in my opinion, is probably who I'd vote for."

Kent conceded his narrow 2022 loss to Gluesenkamp Perez after paying for a recount but has asserted that the 2020 presidential election was stolen. There is no evidence of widespread voter fraud influencing that result.