A voice for trades joins Congress

The first present her future husband gave Marie Gluesenkamp Perez was a carburetor.

As someone who, as a child, fixed broken bikes that neighbors left on the curb, it was a welcome gift. She and her husband, Dean Gluesenkamp, ended up going into business together, opening Dean's Car Care in northeast Portland in 2008. Their six-bay, 4,000-square-foot repair shop has eight employees.

"It's fun to make things work. It's fun to be useful and have that element of self-sufficiency," she said.

Perez, 35, is looking to apply that practical experience to government, having been elected to Congress in November representing Washington State's third district. Perez, her husband and toddler son, Ciro, live in Skamania County in southwest Washington close to the Oregon border and Portland.

Perez's father emigrated from Mexico when he was 20 and she's the second Latino Democrat to be elected from Washington State. She narrowly beat her Republican opponent, winning 50.5 percent of the vote.

Working in the repair shop allowed her to be embedded in her community, she said. As a result, she understood her customers' daily challenges. She knows who is having a child, who's getting divorced. And she knows people often pay a car repair bill before the rent or mortgage.

"We are sort of the canary in the coal mines of the economy. And it's really powerful to be part of your community in a way that's useful," she said.

Running the shop also taught her skills she thinks will be valuable in her congressional role, including building rapport with customers, which she likens to coalition building.

"There's so much that is relevant in running a shop to being effective in Congress," she said. "I think small business owners and people who are in the trades are exactly who we need in Congress."

She said she brings a missing perspective as someone who had difficulty securing affordable day care for her son, who struggled to find affordable health care, had trouble recruiting new employees and deals with the headaches of running a small business.

She would like to cut the regulatory red tape for small business owners, grow the volume of affordable housing and support trade and technical schools.

"It's a different set of priorities. And I would argue it's the set of priorities that more closely mirrors the average American," she said.

Applying for a loan from the Small Business Administration, which she received in 2018, became nearly a full-time job for Perez for a year. She said the process was "entirely too burdensome."

"I think we need more people in government who have had to operate under the bureaucracy, the federal government, who want to get it straightened out," she said.

She also said banks are hesitant "if you're the one signing your own check."

One of her priorities is trying to pass right-to-repair laws, which require vehicle owners and independent repair shops the same access to repair and maintenance tools and data as franchised dealerships.

"I just really believe that DIY is in our DNA as Americans," she said. "It's our cultural heritage to be able to fix our own stuff and be stewards of our belongings. And we need the laws to reflect that."

Perez hopes her victory will inspire others with similar circumstances to run.

There's a need for "real diversity in background and income and education" in Congress.

"There's so many ways to be intelligent" without having a college degree, she said. "I think people that are working in trades have a lot to bring to the table."

Despite her busy calendar and the challenges of shuttling between Washington State and Washington, D.C., Perez is grateful for the opportunity.

"I feel a huge sense of obligation to be the most productive and the best representative I can," she said. "It's very rare for people like me to make it to Congress so I am very energized by this. I love this job."