Washington State Senator for the 20th Legislative District and the Senate Republican Leader. Campaign affiliation: Republican.
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Voter guide
Background, stated goals, record, and money
Background comes from official records, and from the campaign's own biography where the bullet says so; goals are summarized from the campaign's own platform and stay attributed; the record lines are official actions with the government source attached; money is shown as filed, with the filing window and the reconciliation in the note under the table, and is not evidence of why any position was taken.
The Legislature's sponsor roster first lists him as the 20th district's senator in the 2013-14 biennium, consistent with his campaign's statement that he was first elected in 2012. Washington State Legislature, John Braun for Congress
His Senate biography says he served on active duty in the Navy. His campaign says he served 31 years, seven on active duty and the rest in the Reserve, retiring as a captain after directing the submarine force's reserve component. Washington State Senate Republican Caucus, John Braun for Congress
His campaign says he is president of Braun Northwest, the emergency-vehicle maker in Chehalis his family founded in 1986, with 350 employees. John Braun for Congress
Energy from every market source, hydropower, solar, oil, natural gas and nuclear, with no return to dependence on foreign suppliers. John Braun for Congress
More money for removing sea lions that prey on Columbia River salmon, and for hatcheries, culverts and habitat. John Braun for Congress
What the official record shows
Prime sponsor of Senate Bill 5954, "Reducing tuition", which the Senate passed 48 to 0 and the House 98 to 0; it became Chapter 36, Laws of 2015, 3rd Special Session. Washington State Legislature, Washington State Legislature
Sole sponsor of Substitute Senate Bill 5883, the 2017-19 operating budget, which passed the Senate 39 to 10 with his Yea and became Chapter 1, Laws of 2017, 3rd Special Session. Washington State Legislature, Washington State Legislature
Receipts from political committees on lines 11B (party committees), 11C (other political committees) and 12 (transfers from joint fundraising committees) of his committee's 2025-2026 cycle filings through July 15, 2026, grouped by the FEC's recorded organization type or designation of the giving committee. There are no line 11B receipts. The joint fundraising row is $169,972.49 reported on line 12 plus $5,000 a joint fundraising committee gave on line 11C; the other rows, $274,845.01, are the rest of line 11C. Each line's itemized rows sum to the committee's own summary total for that line to the cent, and the table totals $449,817.50. Memo entries are left out because they restate money counted elsewhere: 78 on line 12 itemize what the joint fundraising committees passed on, and 16 on line 11C. Not in the table: contributions from individuals, including any made through WinRed or ActBlue, which are individual contributions and not committee money. The rows sum to 449,817.50 dollars.
Words and record
Where statements meet the record
Each card is labeled narrowly, by rule, and states its own limit.
John Braun
The College Affordability Program
Matches stated record claim
What they say
His campaign says he authored the College Affordability Program, which it calls the largest cut to public university tuition in the nation.
“I authored the College Affordability Program—the largest cuts to public university tuition in the nation”
Senate Bill 5954 of 2015, titled "Reducing tuition", names him as its prime sponsor, first of seventeen senators. The Senate passed it three times that year, the last on June 29 by 48 to 0, with his Yea each time; the House passed it 98 to 0 the next day, and it became Chapter 36, Laws of 2015, 3rd Special Session.
Limit: The record settles authorship and enactment. It does not settle the superlative: no legislature publishes a ranking of tuition cuts across the states, and his biography words it differently again, as "the first and largest". Testing it would take national tuition data for a defined year and sector, which this desk has not read. Sixteen other senators sponsored the bill with him.
John Braun
The 2017-19 state budget
Matches stated record claim
What they say
His campaign says that as chairman of Senate Ways & Means he led the 2017-19 operating budget, and that it achieved full state funding of basic education under the McCleary ruling while cutting property taxes for 73 percent of Washington residents.
“as chairman of the Senate Ways & Means Committee, he led the 2017–19 state operating budget”
Substitute Senate Bill 5883, the operating budget for the 2015-17 and 2017-19 biennia, lists him as its only sponsor. The Ways & Means Committee's report on the bill lists him as its chair. The Senate passed it 39 to 10 on June 30, 2017, with his Yea; the House passed it 70 to 23 the same day, and it became Chapter 1, Laws of 2017, 3rd Special Session.
Limit: Sponsorship of the budget bill is what "led" can be checked against, and it holds. The results the campaign attaches are not tested here. Whether the state met its McCleary duty was for the state Supreme Court to decide, and its orders were not read for this desk. The 73 percent figure was not traced to any official source, and this desk has not established which bill's property-tax changes it measures.
John Braun
The 2023 assault-weapons ban
Matches stated direction
What they say
His campaign says that in his legislative races he opposed Olympia's 2023 rifle ban, because it punishes the law-abiding and does not target criminals.
“In my legislative races I opposed Olympia's 2023 rifle ban because it punishes the law-abiding and doesn't target criminals.”
The 2023 ban is House Bill 1240, which became Chapter 162, Laws of 2023. He voted Nay on its Senate final passage on April 8, 2023, when it passed 27 to 21, and Nay again on April 18, when the Senate receded from its first amendments and passed it 28 to 21.
Limit: His sentence is about his campaigns; the record is his votes in office, which are the stronger evidence of opposition. Two votes on one bill are not a record on firearms generally.
John Braun
The 2021 capital gains tax
Matches stated direction
What they say
His campaign says that as Senate Republican Leader he opposed the 2021 capital gains tax.
Senate Bill 5096, the capital gains excise tax, passed the Senate 25 to 24 on March 6, 2021, and its conference report passed by the same margin on April 25. He voted Nay both times. On March 6 the Senate Journal records him moving three floor amendments, numbers 431, 432 and 434, none of which was adopted, and lists him among sixteen senators who spoke against passage. It became Chapter 196, Laws of 2021.
Limit: The roll calls and the Journal show his votes, his amendments and that he spoke against the bill. They do not show caucus strategy or anything he did off the floor.
John Braun
The state income tax
Matches stated direction
What they say
His campaign says he led floor opposition to the 2025 income tax, warning that once the door was opened it would inevitably expand to all residents.
The income tax the Legislature passed is Senate Bill 6346, titled "Tax on millionaires", in the 2026 session. On February 16, 2026 the Senate Journal records him moving his own floor amendment, number 692, which failed on a voice vote, speaking for other amendments to the bill, and speaking against passage. He voted Yea on three amendments that failed on roll calls, and Nay on Senate passage, which carried 27 to 22. On March 11 the Journal lists him among ten senators who spoke against concurring in the House amendments; he voted Nay on concurrence and on final passage, each carried 27 to 21. It became Chapter 238, Laws of 2026.
Limit: His votes and the Journal match the opposition he describes. The year does not: the campaign dates the income tax to 2025, and the one in the record passed in the 2026 session. This desk reads that as a misdated reference to the same bill and has put the reading to the owner. The Journal shows him offering an amendment and speaking against the bill, alongside other Republican senators who did the same; whether he led the opposition is a characterization it does not settle.
John Braun
Fentanyl and endangered children
Matches stated record claim
What they say
His campaign says he championed legislation to create criminal penalties when children are harmed by fentanyl exposure, and that it passed the Senate with bipartisan votes four years running.
“legislation to create criminal penalties when children are harmed by fentanyl exposure (passed the Senate bipartisanly four years running)”
Two bills carried it. Senate Bill 5010, with Senator Lynda Wilson as prime sponsor and him fourth of fifteen sponsors, passed the Senate 47 to 0 on March 1, 2023 and 48 to 1 on January 24, 2024. Senate Bill 5071, with him as prime sponsor and Democratic Senator Manka Dhingra second, passed 42 to 7 on February 5, 2025 and 40 to 9 on January 21, 2026; Senator Dhingra voted Yea all four times. Each year the House referred it to committee and it went no further.
Limit: Exact on Senate passage, on the four years, and on votes from both parties. Neither bill became law, which the campaign acknowledges in saying these causes struggled for traction in the House; the 2023 bill did get a House committee hearing on March 14, 2023. The bills extend an existing crime, endangerment with a controlled substance, to fentanyl and synthetic opioids. On the first bill he was a cosponsor rather than its author.
John Braun
Nuclear power
Matches stated direction
What they say
His campaign says he will champion market-based energy production, including hydropower, solar, oil, natural gas and nuclear power.
“I'll champion market-based production including hydropower, solar, oil, natural gas and nuclear power.”
He is the prime sponsor of Senate Bill 5821, filed for Washington's 2026 session. It would have the state Commerce Department, if it gets outside funding, write a nuclear power plan for the state energy strategy by December 15, 2026. It had a committee hearing on January 16, 2026, and its history shows no later action.
Braun placed first with 85,064 votes and Gluesenkamp Perez second with 78,025, of 214,491 cast. Both advance to the November 3 general election, with Braun listed first.
The House passed Senate Bill 5954 98 to 0, a day after the Senate passed it 48 to 0. Braun was its prime sponsor. It became Chapter 36, Laws of 2015, 3rd Special Session.