Southern border, geopolitics hot topics at Joe Kent’s Yelm meet and greet

Nisqually Valley News ^ | February 14, 2024 | Dylan Reubenking

[T Ruth]

Joe Kent, a Republican 3rd Congressional District candidate, believes the Yelm and Rainier communities are a crucial factor in his second attempt running for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.

That’s why he visited Mr. Dougs in Yelm on Thursday, Feb. 8 for a meet and greet with approximately 50 supporters in attendance. Despite only a portion of southern Thurston County being represented in the 3rd District, Kent said the region is “key” to his candidacy.

“Yelm and Rainier and this little sliver of Thurston County is very important because it’s a very conservative district. We did very well here in the primary and in the general election [in 2022],” said Kent, who earned 62.3% of the votes in Thurston County in the 2022 general election, compared with 37.4% for Democrat Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, who won the race. “Every part of the district is important, but I think this is really critical as well. I love coming up here.”

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Kent said he visited the border near San Diego last week “because fentanyl is killing our loved ones in southwest Washington and allowing millions of illegals into our nation.” He criticized Gluesenkamp Perez for voting against securing the border and siding with President Biden’s policies regarding what Kent called the “wide open Southern border.”

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