OLYMPIA, Wash. — Senator Patty Murray is seeking her sixth term in the U.S. Senate against GOP challenger Tiffany Smiley, a veterans advocate and former nurse.
Patty Murray is Washington's first woman U.S. Senator. She served one term as a Washington State Senator before running a successful U.S. Senate campaign in 1992, where she has served since.
Murray said she wants to continue working for Washington families. In her candidate statement, Murray said she will always stand up to those who want to "roll back workers' rights" or ban abortions. She also said she wants to lower families' costs for healthcare and childcare.
Smiley, born in Pasco, co-founded and serves as president of Hope Unseen, a veterans advocacy organization. In Smiley's candidate statement, she said she is running to improve public safety and support law enforcement, among other priorities. This is Smiley's first political campaign.
In Smiley's recent attack ads, she has called the state's "big name" organizations, like the Seattle Seahawks and Starbucks, "woke corporations" for not wanting her to use their logos in her ads and has denounced the city of Seattle as liberal and crime-ridden.
Murray has also run a slew of negative ads against Smiley, saying the Republican’s anti-abortion stance could threaten women’s rights and also trying to tie her to extremist elements within the GOP.
While Smiley personally opposes abortions, she said she would not push for a nationwide ban. Smiley said she believes the issue is best decided by each individual state, and Washington voters decided decades ago to approve abortions here.
Murray has raised more than $17.8 million as of the September reporting deadline, and had $3.7 million in the bank. Smiley had raised more than $12.8 million, far more than recent GOP Senate challengers in Washington, and had $2.4 million in the bank.
Washington state hasn’t elected a Republican to the Senate since 1994.
Senators are elected to six-year terms. They represent the entire state. The Senate takes action on bills, resolutions, amendments, and more.