John Braun

Braun was born in Columbus, Ohio, in 1967. According to his campaign website, his father, uncle and grandfather began building ambulances in Ohio in 1972; the family moved to Lewis County, Washington, and in 1986 his parents and their sons founded Braun Northwest in Chehalis.[2][7] He earned a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the University of Washington in 1989 on a Naval ROTC scholarship.[1][2][7] He served in the U.S. Navy and Navy Reserve for 31 years, including seven years on active duty in the submarine force, and rose to the rank of captain; his campaign website says his final assignment was Director of the U.S. Navy Submarine Force Reserve Component.[1][2][4]

Braun later earned a master's degree in manufacturing engineering and an MBA from the University of Michigan in 1999.[1][2] That year he returned to Braun Northwest as general manager and vice president, and he became president in 2006, according to his campaign website. The company builds emergency vehicles and says it has about 350 employees.[2][3][8] In 2012 he was elected to the Washington State Senate, defeating fellow Republican incumbent Dan Swecker, and took office in January 2013 representing the 20th Legislative District.[1][3][7]

In the Senate, Braun chaired the Ways and Means Committee in 2017 and, per his campaign website, helped lead the 2017-19 operating budget. In the 2023-24 session he was Vice Chair of the Rules Committee and a member of the Ways and Means, Housing, and Labor, Commerce and Tribal Affairs committees.[1][2] His Senate Republican colleagues elected him caucus leader in December 2020, according to his campaign website, and re-elected him in 2024.[2][4] He announced his campaign for the 3rd District seat in August 2025. KUOW described him as a Navy veteran and business owner from Centralia; his campaign website says he lives on a farm in rural Lewis County with his wife, Marlo, and has four adult children.[2][4] His campaign website said he was running to bring a manufacturer's discipline to Washington, D.C.[1][2][3][4] He received 45.5% of the vote to Marie Gluesenkamp Perez's 53.6%, according to unofficial results reported by NBC News.[5]