Exclusive — Joe Kent After Primary Victory: ‘We Must Unify’ to Fight the Left, Administrative State

Joe Kent, who will advance to the general election in the race to represent Washington’s Third Congressional District, has called on his fellow Republicans to help him defeat Democrat Marie Gluesenkamp Pérez.

“It was a long and hard fought primary. I’m very grateful for my supporters and my Republican opponents. My opponents made me stronger – iron sharpens iron. My focus now is to reach out to every Republican, especially supporters of JHB, to unify our party,” Kent told Breitbart News.

Kent cited the “high degree of coordination” within the left and the administrative state as the reason the Republican Party must unify in opposition to these forces, referencing the recent raid on former President Donald Trump’s home in Florida.

“The stakes are too high for us not to be unified. The left & the administrative state are unified and working with a high degree of coordination. If we are to save our republic, we must unify,” he continued. “The left is not playing politics anymore, they are at war with the core of America, they are seizing every level of power and wielding it against us. We saw that when the FBI raided President Trump’s home. This isn’t the politics of 10-15 years ago; this is war and we must unify and fight back. I’m honored and humbled to have the Republican nomination and ready to fight for our district and our nation.”

As of Wednesday, Kent has taken a lead of nearly a thousand votes over the incumbent congresswoman, Jaime Herrera Beutler (R), who has conceded. Herrera Beutler notably voted to impeach former President Trump and had previously voted to nullify Trump’s declaration that the situation at the southern border constituted an emergency.

In aggregate, Republican candidates in the race — including Kent, Herrera Beutler, and Heidi St. John — won a large majority of votes during the first round of voting, with the Democrat Pérez winning just 31.1 percent of the vote. According to David Wasserman of the Cook Political Report, the district leans Republican in the general election.

You can follow Michael Foster on Twitter at @realmfoster.