Speculation about challengers to Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez brings up an interesting quirk regarding congressional representatives.

Jerry Cornfield of media outlet Washington State Standard reported last week that two prominent Washington Republicans are considering running for Congress next year against Perez, a Skamania Democrat who is in her second term representing the 3rd Congressional District.

State Sen. John Braun, R-Centralia, said he might run for the position, as did state Rep. Jim Walsh, R-Aberdeen. Braun is the Senate Republican leader in the Legislature, and Walsh is chair of the Washington State Republican Party — giving them more clout and more name recognition than many congressional challengers.

But there is another factor in Walsh’s potential campaign that draws scrutiny — he does not live in the 3rd Congressional District. He lives in Washington’s 6th Congressional District, where Rep. Emily Randall, D-Bremerton, is serving her first term in Congress.

Legally, there is nothing wrong with that. One of the first provisions of the U.S. Constitution (Article I, Section 2), adopted in 1787, states in the language of the time: “No Person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the Age of twenty five Years, and been seven Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen.”

In modern language, that means that a representative must live in the state where they are elected, not necessarily the district they represent.

As Politifact has pointed out: “That may come as a shock to some people. Voting outside your district is a felony, and people are periodically arrested for the crime. Even if you own a business in a community, which gives you a big stake in local politics, you can’t vote there unless your actual residence is there. And it’s illegal to run for any state or local office unless your primary residence is in the district.”

When it comes to Congress, however, Washington residents from any district may run in the 3rd District — provided they meet the other requirements.

Just because somebody can do something, of course, does not mean that they should. The guess is that local voters would not take kindly to a carpetbagger attempting to flip the 3rd District into Republican hands just because he views it as vulnerable.

Walsh has indicated that he likely would not run if Braun — who actually lives in the 3rd District — enters the race. But the situation demonstrates the intrigue surrounding our local district.

Perez first won election in 2022, flipping a seat that had been held by Republican Jaime Herrera Beutler for 12 years. Republican Joe Kent ousted Herrera Beutler in the primary before losing to Perez in the general election. In a rematch during the 2024 general election, Perez increased her margin of victory, demonstrating an ability to connect with and effectively represent a broad swath of voters in a district that favored Donald Trump in three presidential elections.

All of that will be rehashed over the next 16 months before the 2026 midterm elections. But the situation in the 3rd District points out some constitutional quirks. The Speaker of the House, for example, need not be a sitting member of Congress, and a Supreme Court nominee need not be a judge or even have a law degree before being considered for the high court.

When it comes to Congress, however, local residents are best suited to represent the needs of their district — even if the Constitution does not require it.