Republican Joe Kent faces ‘the establishment’ and his own party in long-odds congressional bid – KUOW News and Information

Then, one volunteers question quieted the conversation.

Had Heidi St. John, the other Republican challenger to U.S. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, dropped out yet? Had she honored the deal?

After months building a profile as a geopolitical operator through local events, national television appearances and taking part in far-right events the question reminded the crowd of the sobering arithmetic Kent currently faces.

Three Republicans, Kent included, declared themselves ready to unseat Herrera Beutler after she voted to impeach former President Donald Trump in January. The vote instantly turned the Southwest Washington representative radioactive to a GOP increasingly driven by loyalty to Trump.

Incensed as local Republicans were, they also knew they had to consolidate around a single challenger if they hoped to secure enough votes to unseat Herrera Beutler. Today, only Kent and St. John remain and the latter has shown no interest in quitting.

Kent hopes his emergence as the favored outsider is enough to overcome St. Johns potential as a spoiler. A rookie politician but a career soldier, Kent pitches this race like a war hes uniquely equipped to win.

The language of insurgency underscores his campaign, a byproduct of melding Trumps America First platform with his military background. Campaign strategies, for example, are vectors of attack at the volunteer meeting.

Although hes attempting to unseat an incumbent, Kents grandest fight isnt with one individual, he says. He repeatedly derides the establishment a class of Democrats, Republicans, military generals, careerists in Washington, D.C., and plutocrats that he says are scheming against the public.

The volunteers question about St. John reminded the crowd how much further Kent has to go. He gripped a microphone. Rolled-up sleeves bared tattoos of an angelic female Kurdish soldier with a rifle, flaming rubble of the World Trade Center, and Roman numerals inscribing the date his wife died three years earlier.

He fired out an answer. No, St. John wasnt dropping out. The deal they had made was dead.

And all thats doing is benefitting Jaime Herrera Beutler, he said. All thats doing is benefitting the establishment.

Coinciding with his endorsement by the former president in September, Kents profile is on the rise.

White and square-jawed with curly hair, the U.S. Special Forces veteran is becoming a regular face on conservative cable news. Sometimes he discusses his campaign in Washingtons 3rd District. Sometimes he channels his combat background to riff on the days foreign affairs headlines.

Four days after the Kalama event, Kent was flying to Washington, D.C., as the Pentagon announced a drone strike had killed 10 Afghan civilians seven of them children. His phone pinged with a text as soon as he touched down.

Tucker Carlson needed a guest, wrote his advisor, a former Trump campaign staffer named Matt Braynard. Kent beelined from the airport to the Fox News studios. The next morning, he went on Steve Bannons War Room podcast.

Hes appeared on those programs multiple times this year. Both hosts make a point to encourage their audiences to support Kent. In Carlsons introduction that night, he told viewers were not ashamed to say were rooting for him.

The media blitz is vital, Kent said, to give him name recognition. A year ago, he kickstarted his campaign with $200,000 of his own. He said he drew about half of that from his late wifes life insurance.

In order to overcome an 11-year incumbent, Kent said in an interview, I need every vote, and I need every percentage, and I need every dollar.

Audiences are taking their cue. According to federal campaign finance filings, Kent collected $452,131 this summer, a 23% jump from the spring quarter. His $836,818 in cash-on-hand trails Herrera Beutlers $1.4 million, but its more than double that of St. John, a Christian author, public speaker and podcaster.

In fact, Kent is outpacing recent history in the district. Carolyn Long, a professor well-funded by Democrats to challenge Herrera Beutler the last two cycles, never banked this much this quickly.

Several of his biggest contributors are familiar Trump supporters, such as Stephen Wynn, the billionaire casino mogul who briefly chaired the Republican National Committee before resigning amid sexual misconduct allegations; and PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel. Both gave the maximum $5,800.

Kent isnt surprised donors across the country seem to be locking onto his signal.

Its obviously a national race just because of the whole impeachment vote, and the way the president has weighed in on the race, he said.

In Kalama, Kent roused a home crowd.

On the picnic table-turned-stump, he ridiculed the PAC money flowing into Herrera Beutlers campaign. And he touted his own campaign signing up more than 300 volunteers a factor in Trumps decision to endorse.

He called me up and said Joe, this is your favorite president, Kent told the laughing volunteers. I guess hed already seen our polling and our fundraising, but he said How many volunteers do you have?

So you guys helped me get across the finish line to get that Trump endorsement, Kent added. You guys are part of the movement and I appreciate it.

The former presidents influence is apparent on the campaign trail. In stops from downtown Vancouver to Cowlitz and Lewis counties, people with Trump flags, MAGA buttons or Deplorable-stitched hats show up for Kent.

Once, a woman wearing an American flag loudly asked if Trump would ever visit the district. She drew squeals from women around her after she offered a room in her home for his stay.

Kent himself echoes the former president as he works to sway the districts conservative voters away from Herrera Beutler. His platform is headlined by promises of building a wall at the U.S.-Mexico border, returning manufacturing jobs from overseas and withdrawing troops from the Middle East.

But the path for any candidate to unseat Herrera Beutler may require a broader base than Kent can muster, political observers say, due to Washingtons unique primary system.

Here, Republicans and Democrats dont get separate ballots. Everyone appears on the ballot together and the top-two vote-getters advance to the general election. David Wasserman, of The Cook Political Report, said Herrera Beutler is a lock to at least make the November ballot.

Herrera Beutler has one thing on the rest of the field, and thats universal name recognition, Wasserman said. That alone is likely to propel her to the top spot.

Come November, its hard to see a scenario where Herrera Beutler isnt favored. In a district as purple as Southwest Washington Democrats and Republicans have each held the seat twice in the last three decades the moderate congresswoman can use her impeachment vote and Republican nameplate to balance the scales.

If she were to face a Democrat in the fall, she would likely clobber the Democrat, Wasserman said. If she were to face Joe Kent in an all-Republican runoff, she would likely be able to win enough votes from Democrats to overcome Kent.

Braynard, Kents campaign advisor, thinks the top-two system could be double-edged. Outsider candidates have fared OK here, he noted. In 2012, Libertarian Ron Paul finished second to Mitt Romney in a caucus primary. Four years later, voters favored progressive Bernie Sanders over Hillary Clinton in all but two of the districts counties.

The political middle Herrera Beutler has clung to, Braynard said, could leave her the odd one out.

"People are eager to find someone to defeat Jaime Herrera Beutler, he insisted.

To him, Kent is the dream candidate: intelligent with a decorated military pedigree. In front of the volunteers, Braynard compared him to Supermans alias, Clark Kent.

Braynard, who is bald, joked that made him Lex Luthor.

The first child of two attorneys, Kent grew up in southwest Portland in a conservative and deeply Catholic household, according to his father.

We ran maybe a little bit of a tight ship, Chris Kent said. We said, as long as youre living under our roof, if its Sunday, were going to mass. Pray for your friends, pray for your enemies, whatever youre going.

Though his parents forbade war toys early on, Kent found himself drawn by the military whizbangs shown on nightly news paratroopers in Panama or night vision goggles during Desert Storm.

Kent was 13 in 1993 when coverage of the Battle of Mogadishu which later became the basis for the book and film Black Hawk Down gripped the country. Television stations broadcast Somali militiamen dragging dead American soldiers through the streets.

That was probably the first modern, savage combat that was caught on camera, Kent said. And I was like, Holy crap. Theres guys over there fighting, like, literally hand-to-hand combat right now, and theyre just like me. Some of them could be kids from Portland, Oregon for all I know.

When he joined at 18, it was during peacetime late in President Bill Clintons administration. But fights away from the battlefield were shaping Kents views on government.

In 1999, Kents father went toe-to-toe with the U.S. Department of Justice. Chris Kent won a $6 million settlement against the FBI, after a judge ruled agents willfully leaked bad intelligence alleging a Portland-area banker had bribed Czech Republic officials.

The case drew Kents attention to other famous incidents involving federal law enforcement. He dived into the histories of the U.S. Marshals botched siege at Ruby Ridge. Likewise, the Waco siege that involved the FBI and other agencies and left more than 80 people dead including dozens of children. Both incidents became formative for anti-government movements in the Pacific Northwest and across the country.

Im going to join the army and Im like, My dads up against the FBI. Thats really weird. And my dads like These guys are dirty to the core, theyre entrapping innocent people, Kent said. I thought maybe it was just a one-off, but the more you go down the rabbit hole of the origins of Ruby Ridge and Waco and all that, its like Oh, thats kind of what these guys do.

After the Sept. 11 attacks, Kent charged into conflict. He served 11 combat tours mostly in Iraq, with deployments in Yemen and north Africa and won six bronze stars. He rose to the rank of chief warrant officer in the Green Berets. In 2018, he collected his pension and became a paramilitary officer with the CIA.

He was just born with this DNA, Chris Kent said. This genetic imprint. This personality.

To campaign volunteers, like 73-year-old Thomas Blalock, Kents life as a battlefield operator credentials his politics.

His achievement in the military speaks volumes to his character, Blalock said. Hes the elite of the elite.

Still, his father was surprised when Kent decided to make a run at Congress.

When he told us that I went, What? He never had aspired to any kind of political office, Chris Kent said. The complete opposite.

Kent followed politics, he said just never out of ambition.

The soldier voted for Bush both times. But eventually he became disaffected by nation-building policies he witnessed, which continued under the Obama administration.

I remember on my second deployment when we were starting to build a lot of permanent infrastructure in Iraq, Kent said. I was like So, this is the plan? Were staying forever? I dont get that. That doesnt jive with what my mission says to do right now. But OK.

He drifted toward libertarians like Ron Paul until Trump came along and won him over with promises to end years-long wars though the war in Afghanistan continued through his administration.

After Kent wed Shannon Smith, a Navy cryptologist, in 2013. They settled into a suburban Maryland home and had two sons. She would ask him if he ever considered taking a D.C. job to work in policy, but he brushed it off. His retirement was to join the CIA.

I wanted to kind of stay where the rubber meets the road, Kent said. We were going to remain pretty much in the shadows.

Sharron Kearney, a close cousin of Smiths, recalled an easygoing Kent in those years. With kids of similar age, they often spent time together and discussed current events. Even in debates, she said, Kent remained respectful.

Current events would definitely come in. I remember having gun rights conversations at their house specific to assault rifles and stuff like that, Kearney said. They sat to the right and my husband and I sat to the left. I actually liked that conversation.

On Jan. 16, 2019, a suicide bomber sent a blast through a kebab restaurant in the city of Manbij, Syria. Eighteen people died, including Smith and three other Americans. The Islamic State claimed the attack.

Three days later, Kent was standing in a group medical home at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware. He was waiting for the plane to land, carrying home his wifes remains.

As he waited, a well-suited staffer appeared and said Trump was willing to meet families before the caskets landed. Kent was going to speak his mind.

I kind of lost my give-a-fuck. If Im going to get a chance to talk to the president, I dont care, Im resigning from the CIA tomorrow, Kent recalled. So I felt like this was a moment to actually speak some truth.

Kent blamed people he believes want to keep America at war no matter who is in the Oval Office. Gen. James Mattis and diplomat Brett McGurk had recently made headlines for resigning after Trump vowed to withdraw from Syria.

The establishment is working against you, Kent remembered telling the president.

Everything youre saying flies in the face of everything that they built their careers on, Kent recalled. And everything they will continue to build their fortunes on later.

Today, Kent says his wife is as much a casualty of malignant U.S. foreign policy as a bomb. He says Trumps plan would have saved her life.

All my friends, my late wife, we all fought and died and bled because we love the Constitution, Kent told rallygoers in late August. My wife would be alive today had Trump not been double-crossed by the establishment.

St. John and Kent share many overlapping, conservative beliefs. They are both pro-life. They repudiate COVID-19 mandates and gun regulations. And their campaigns are chasing many of the same voters.

But they clash in one important area: Trumps value in Southwest Washington. And that threatens to split the Never Herrera Beutler voting bloc, Kent acknowledged in an interview.

Any division within the field, its something that we inevitably do have to worry about, he said. I think right now, at this point, its just really about reminding people why the deal was made.

The deal occurred in March. One night, scores of local conservatives filed into a church in Battle Ground, Washington, to meet a trio of candidates who hoped to unseat Herrera Beutler.

The incumbent was two months removed from her impeachment vote, and fresh off making national headlines for volunteering to testify in the Senate impeachment trial triggered by the Jan. 6 insurrection. Tensions reached the rafters.

The anger in the room toward Jaime was palpable, St. John told OPB.

Three candidates took to the dais: St. John, Kent, and Wadi Yakhour, a former staffer at the U.S. Selective Service during the Trump administration.

For an hour, they fielded audience questions. What would they do if elected? How did they feel about replacing the Interstate 5 bridge? What should be done about the regions homeless population?

Then, Clark County Republican Party Chairman Joel Mattila asked the obvious question. If former President Trump endorses someone else in this race, will you drop out and support that person?

Each candidate answered yes. When the endorsement landed, Yakhour bowed out, but St. John stayed put.

Ann Donnelly, a former Clark County Republican Party chairperson who was present that night, said the fracture could threaten both campaigns. Trumps endorsement could help as much as it hurts, she said.

Many were supporters of other candidates in 2016, Donnelly said in an email. Many who subsequently voted for Trump in the election may not welcome his endorsement now in such an important local race as our 3rd Congressional.

Indeed, Herrera Beutler outperformed Trump in the district. While the former president eked 51% across the districts six counties in 2020, she notched 57%. Of her six congressional races, Herrera Beutler has beaten her opponents by double digits all but twice.

The campaign between Kent and St. John has become bitter in recent months.

St. John said in a November interview she doesnt intend to end her campaign. She accused Kent of smearing her reputation privately to Trump, which the Kent campaign denies. The 51-year-old entrepreneur said she can win over small business owners, Christians and parents.

I know Im in it for the right reason. I didnt get into this race for the Trump endorsement, and I wont get out because of it, St. John said. I dont think the Trump endorsement carries as much weight as the Kent campaign hopes it will.

Kent is quick to remind people about the deal. He has also urged supporters to pressure Mattila for not leaning on St. John to quit. Mattila declined to comment for this article.

We had that agreement, Kent said. If Trump hadnt endorsed him, he added, he would have withdrawn. I would not have done Jaime Herrera Beutler and Kevin McCarthy and the establishment the favor of dividing the field like that.

After the endorsement, St. John sent a broadside. She accused Kent of being a registered Democrat before he moved into the district in the summer of 2020.

Its true, Kent said, but he describes it as subterfuge. He said he voted for Bernie Sanders to give Trump, a shoo-in for Oregons Republican Primary, better odds in the general.

This is all strategy, Kent said. But silly me I was thinking the election was going to be fair.

As Kent charges from the right, some have voiced concerns about the lengths hell go to win a congressional seat.

On stage, hes become unafraid to deploy unproven theories as rallying cries. He has called COVID-19 a China-designed vehicle to suppress freedoms. He has stoked ideas that the FBI set up protesters on Jan. 6 to attack the U.S. Capitol.

In September, Kent spoke at the Justice for J6 rally in Washington, D.C., arguing for the release of political prisoners. His consultant, Braynard, was also the rallys chief organizer.

Kent didnt always hold that conviction. He condemned the Capitol attack in an interview with OPB shortly after he filed his candidacy, saying violence and property destruction have no place in protest. He compared it to social justice protests in Portland.

The second people start throwing bricks through windows, we just have to call that out, Kent said in February. I feel the exact same way about the guys who acted violently on January 6. You know, like, what they did was absolutely atrocious and they should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

About 700 people so far face criminal charges stemming from the Capitol attack. Kent reconciles his earlier statements by saying many havent yet had a chance to defend themselves in court and many did not act violently.

Weve had months for them to figure out who did something violent that day, Kent said. If Im wrong, fine, Im wrong, but give them their day in court. Thats really the overall point.

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Republican Joe Kent faces 'the establishment' and his own party in long-odds congressional bid - KUOW News and Information