Reps. Earl Blumenauer and Adam Smith have also called on Biden to drop out of the race, though they have not called for him to resign. Other Democrats in Oregon and Washington state have been less clear.
VANCOUVER, Wash. — Rep. Marie Grusenkamp Perez (D-Vancouver) released a statement Thursday expressing concern about President Joe Biden's age and health, strongly suggesting that he should step down and withdraw from the 2024 presidential race, but without saying so directly.
“Over the past two weeks, I have heard my constituents express concerns about the president's age and health. Like most of the people I represent in Southwest Washington, I have doubts about the president's health, his ability to do his job, and his judgment about whether it is he, and not unelected advisors, who should make important decisions about the country,” Grusenkamp Perez said in an email to KGW. “The American people should feel that the president is fully capable of doing his job. The crisis of confidence in his leadership must end. The president should do what he knows is right for the country and put the national interest first.”
Grusenkamp-Perez's statement came hours before Biden was due to hold a crucial live press conference aimed at demonstrating he remains fit for the job after a halting and lackluster debate performance that sparked panic among Democrats and widespread concerns about Biden's age and whether he is still capable of defeating Donald Trump in November.
Her statement also came a day after Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Portland) became the first member of Oregon's congressional delegation to publicly call on Biden to withdraw from the presidential race, calling it a “painful and difficult decision” to “protect our democracy,” and days after Rep. Adam Smith (D-Tacoma) became the first member of the Washington delegation to make a similar call, though neither senator suggested Biden should step down.
Smith and Blumenauer are working on a growing but still relatively small While several Democrats in Congress have directly called for Biden to resign, Grusenkamp-Perez's implicit call for him to step down would make her an outlier even among that group. Many more Democrats, including those from Oregon and Washington state delegations, have expressed concerns about Biden's debate performance but have declined to say whether he should be replaced from the list of candidates.
In Oregon, Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (D-Portland) said she was working to “figure out the best path forward,” Sen. Ron Wyden said Biden “had a terrible night” during the debate and Sen. Jeff Merkley said he had “serious concerns” about Biden, but none of them directly addressed the future of his candidacy.
In Washington, Sen. Patty Murray said Biden “needs to demonstrate more” his ability to defeat Donald Trump, while Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Seattle) issued a statement praising Biden's work and saying she would focus on showing “the difference between Democrats and Donald Trump.”
Blumenauer and Grussenkamp-Perez are in somewhat unique positions among Democrats in their respective delegations: Blumenauer already announced retirement plans last year and dropped out of the 2024 race, while Grussenkamp-Perez represents a Republican-leaning district whose surprise 2022 victory would flip the Southwest Washington seat for the first time in more than a decade.
Grusenkamp Perez has sought to distance herself from traditional Democratic positions during her first term, taking tougher stances on immigration and border security and voting for a resolution aimed at halting Biden's student loan relief plan. A Politico profile earlier this month described her as “engaged in a generational ideological battle with much of the party's left.”
Grussenkamp-Perez's spokesman, Phil Gardner, told KGW's Laural Porter that the statements about Biden were not political but “governance decisions in the national interest,” adding that Grussenkamp-Perez felt a responsibility to speak out as a representative.
