Introduction
Patty Murray is the incumbent senior Senator of the United States for Washington State. She was born on October 11th, 1950. She has been a senator since January 5th, 1992 to date. She is a vocal member of the Democratic Party. She broke the record by being the first female senator in Washington. She is currently serving her fifth term, expected to end in 2016. However, she announced that she will run for the sixth term in 2016 (Brunner 2014). She has previously been known for her advocacy of children issues and investment in education.
During her terms since 1992, she has served on many committees and has since grown to become the highest ranking woman Democrat in the Senate. She also ranks as the fourth highest Democrat in the Senate and twelfth in overall. She is now the Chair of the Senate Budget Committee an opportunity which elevated her national profile. She is also the top Democrat on Senate Health, Education, and Pensions Committee. The other committees which she sits are; Subcommittees on Children and Families, Primary Health and Retirement Security, Primary health and Retirement Security among other committees. She has also sponsored many bills.
Early, Education and Personal Life
Patty was born in Bothell, Washington. She was also raised there. Her parents, Beverly A and David Johns were an accountant and businessperson respectively. Her father ran a dime store where she worked growing up. She is a twin and has six siblings. Her origin includes Irish, French-Canadian, Scottish and Welsh roots. As a young child, Patty attended Saint Brendan Catholic School.
She studied Arts at Washington State University. She then undertook her internship at the Seattle VA and was stationed at the psychiatric ward. Here she witnessed the sacrifices made by Vietnam War Veterans. She completed her studies graduating with a BA in Physical Education in 1972. She is married her husband of forty years’ Rob Murray, whom she met at the Washington State College. They have two adult children, Randy and Sarah, and three grandchildren. She lives on Washington’s Whidbey Island.
Early Career
Before teaching in Shoreline School District, Patty worked as an activist for environmental and educational issues. During one of the forums, a state representative dismissed her saying that she could not make a difference. She had visited Olympia to advocate for preschool program budget cuts. In response to the statement, Patty successfully gathered grassroots support and the proposed budget cuts as struck down. This statement had an impact on her early career since she later used it in her campaigns.
She then started her professional career as a trained teacher. She became a preschool teacher at Shoreline Community College. She taught a parenting class from 1984-1987. She also served on the School Board. In 1988, she was elected to the Washington State Senate to the position of a Democrat Whip. She served as a Whip for four years between 1988 and 1992. She then joined mainstream politics.
Political Campaigns
1992
Patty ran for the Senate elections in 1992. Her win has been described as an accidental win. Patty announced her intention to challenge incumbent Senate Brock Adams when she wasn’t ready. During that time, she did not have proficient public speaking skills, had no name recognition and was not good at fundraising. She hardly talked about money and could not ask for money. She ran a grassroots campaign comprised of friends, supporters, families, public interest groups and supporters. She represented herself as the voice for the families that were not being heard. Her visual aids included an image of herself in tennis shoes in reference to the phrase a Senate member had told her in earlier days.
Her campaign was faced with different hurdles and a fair share of good luck. Gender was an important aspect since it earned her an enormous credibility. The Seattle Times reported on the primary poll that one-in-three voters cited her gender as an added advantage. Although EMILY’s List founded to elect women in Democratic Party to Senate did not have Patty as their first choice, they gave her all the support needed when she got into the race (Bouie and Caldwell 2013). The incumbent senator, Brock Adams, chose not to vie for re-election, which worked to her advantage. His popularity had been affected by a scandal involving eight women.
Patty, therefore, ran against one candidate, U.S, Congressman Rod Chandler. After the Primary Poll, Patty encountered a dull moment where she was ridiculed by Chandler. He mocked Patty’s inexperience after outspending her 2 to 1. He also cited years of experience as a US Congressman. Chandler enjoyed an upper hand in debates until he quoted the “Dang Me” song by Roger Miller. George Bush’s unpopularity in the Pacific Northwest further damaged him. Patty, therefore, defeated Rod Chandler by a margin of 8 percent by getting 54% against Chandler’s 46%. Patty garnered 1,197,973 votes while Chandler got 1,020,829 votes.
1998
Party ran for re-election to office in 1998. During this election, she also faced one candidate, Linda Smith of the Republican Party. Smith was known for opposing gay rights. She viewed homosexuality as being immoral. Murray won with a 19 point margin where she got 58% while Smith garnered 42%.
2004
Patty faced four candidates in this year’s U.S Senate Elections. Her principal opponent was Republican’s George Nethercutt. She used Nethercutt’s term limit’s broken promise as a campaign high point. The fact that Nethercutt lacked name recognition in the part where two third of Washington population resided was also an added advantage. There was also an issue on the candidates’ stand on Iraq war. Murray did not support it while Nethercutt was for it. Patty, therefore, won the elections by a 12 point margin. She garnered 54.98% while Nethercutt got only42.74%.
2010
This was her most difficult re-election campaign. To start with, the Senate election was the first under the blanket primary passed in 2004. The economy had also been in a critical condition, and Patty was therefore targeted by the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC). Losing this election for her would show that even well-liked veterans were vulnerable. She, therefore, ran against 14 other candidates- four Democrats, six Republican, one Reform Party and three independent candidates. She garnered 46% while Dino Rossi, a two-time gubernatorial nominee received 33%.
Upon realizing that she was faced with the most difficult re-election, Patty amassed over $17 million for the campaign. She also amassed more than $3.5 million from outside groups and political action committees. This was the highest amount she had raised and exceeded Rossi’s value by over $ 7 million. The Republicans, on the other hand, prepared television advertisement that mocked Patty’s image in tennis shoes. This did not, however, give Rossi an edge over Patty. Patty won by a 5 point margin of 14,000 votes. This was the smallest margin in her career.
2016
Murray has declared to run for a fifth term in office. The elections to be held on November 2016, she will have served a Senate Tenure of three decades.
Committee Assignments
Patty sits in multiple committees and subcommittees either as the chairperson, ranking member, EX Official or regular membership. Apart from the committees in the introduction section, there are other committees and subcommittees. They include; Senate Committee on Appropriations, Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, and related agencies, Energy and water Development, Transportation, Housing and Urban Development and Related Studies (BallotPedia 2016).
She is also a member of non-legislative committees known as Caucuses. Such committees include; Congressional Fire Services Caucus, Congressional Wine Caucus, Nuclear Cleanup Caucus, Congressional Internet Caucus, Native American Caucus, Senate Hunger Caucus, Senate Potato Caucus, Senate Steel Caucus, Senate Specialty Crops Caucus and Senate National Guard Caucus.
Achievements-Key Votes, Sponsored Bills, and Rankings
Patty has sponsored many bills in many areas. They include; social welfare (4%, Economics and Public Finance (4%), Health (9%), Public Lands and Natural Resources (9%), Labor and Employment (11%), Armed Forces and National Security (20%) and Education which is the area most sponsored with a 38% sponsorship. Some of the specific sponsored bills include; Preventing Superbugs and Protecting Act, Save Access to a Valuable Investment Needed to Generate Savings Act of 2016, Retirement and Income Security Enhancements(RAISE).
Since her election in 1993, Patty has only missed 157 out of 7746 roll call votes. She has also cast votes on important areas. During the 114th Congress, she has voted in the following broad areas; economic and fiscal areas, foreign affairs and Domestic area. The specific laws are; Trade Act of 2015, Trade promotion authority, 2016 Budget proposal, Defense spending authorization, the others 2015 budget. More laws include Iran nuclear deal, Hire More Heroes Act of 2015, Hire More Heroes Act of 2015 follow up votes, Hire More Heroes Act of 2015 fourth vote, USA FREEDOM Act of 2015, Cyber security and Immigration.
In the 113th Congress, 7% of the 3215 introduced bills were enacted. The sections which the bills were passed include; national security, economy, immigration and social issues. The specific bills passed during this congress are; John Brennan CIA nomination, Farm bill, 2014 Budget, No Budget, No Pay Act of 2013, Government shutdown, Mexico-U.S. border and Violence Against Women (2013).
Patty was the first woman to be elected to the Senate office in Washington. She was also the first female to chair the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. She was the fourth member of the Senate to be re-elected to office in Washington. Here another achievement is being the fourth highest ranking Democrat in the U.S Senate. Her team also beat the previous record of $40 million, raising above $143 million. This was the first time the Senate Control was in the President’s party since 1914.
Her other rankings and achievements include endorsement and ratings form different organizations. Some of her most recent ratings include the 83% rating by Environmental America, 75% by the Humane Society Legislative Fund, 100% rating by NARAL Pro-Choice America and Planned Parenthood Action Fund, Council for a Livable World and the Bread for the World. The recent endorsement that she has received is that by Humane Society Legislative Fund,
Political Positions
Patty has been regarded as a moderate to liberal Democrat. She has been voting her party leadership safe for the few instances where she has failed to. One such instance is when she supported the administration of President Barrack Obama in their efforts to secure free-trade agreements. Although this move was highly opposed by most of her fellow Democrats, she argued that her state relied on international trade. The efforts were therefore very vital.
The Iraq war was also a controversial political position of her career. In 2002 she voted against the authorization of the war to invade Iraq. She argued that after the war, America will be obligated to rebuild Iraq yet the cost of rebuilding is nit estimated. In addition to that, she explained that America’s economy is shrinking and their budget is in deficit. There is therefore no need to strain the budget. During a talk with Columba River High School, she appeared to support Osama Bin Laden. She explained the benefits he has brought to Iran, improving the lives of Iranians, something which the Americans have failed to. Political opponents were outraged by this stand.
References
Brunner, J. (2014, February 9). Patty Murray to seek fifth Senate term in 2016. The Seattle Times. Retrieved March 6, 2016, from http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/patty-murray-to-seek-fifth-senate-term-in-2016/
Bouie, J. & Caldwell, J. (2013, May 21). Patty Murray in 19 Takes. Retrieved March 3, 2016 from http://prospect.org/article/patty-murray-19-takes
