43 Facts About Patty Murray

Patricia Lynn Murray is an American politician and educator who has served as president pro tempore of the United States Senate since 2023.

Patty Murray is the senior United States senator from Washington, a seat she has held since 1993.

Patty Murray was Washington's first female US senator and is the first woman in American history to hold the position of president pro tempore.

Patty Murray worked as a pre-school teacher and, later, as a parenting teacher at Shoreline Community College.

Patty Murray served one term before launching a campaign for the United States Senate in 1992.

Patty Murray has been re-elected five times, most recently in 2022.

Patty Murray garnered national attention in 2013, when she and Republican representative Paul Ryan announced that they had negotiated a two-year, bipartisan budget, known as the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013.

Patty Murray is currently the fourth-most senior senator, the second-longest serving woman to ever serve in the Senate, and the dean of Washington's congressional delegation.

One of seven children, Murray was born in Bothell, Washington, a daughter of David L Johns and Beverly A McLaughlin.

Patty Murray's father served in World War II and was awarded a Purple Heart.

Patty Murray had been the manager of a five-and-ten store.

Patty Murray attended Saint Brendan Catholic School as a young child.

Patty Murray received a Bachelor of Arts degree in physical education from Washington State University in 1972.

Patty Murray was a preschool teacher for several years, and taught a parenting class at Shoreline Community College from 1984 to 1987.

Patty Murray was successful in gathering grassroots support to strike down proposed preschool program budget cuts.

In 1988, Patty Murray unseated two-term incumbent Republican state Senator Bill Kiskaddon.

Patty Murray has served in the United States Senate since her election in 1992.

Patty Murray is the current chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Patty Murray is the first woman, and 33rd senator overall, to have cast 10,000 votes in the Senate, having reached the threshold on April 20,2023.

Patty Murray faced three Democratic challengers in the August 2,2016, primary election.

On February 28,2013, Patty Murray introduced the Green Mountain Lookout Heritage Protection Act into the Senate.

Patty Murray argued that the bill should be passed in order to help the tourism industry in the area while protecting the lookout point in question.

On December 10,2013, Patty Murray announced that she and Republican Representative Paul Ryan had reached a compromise agreement on a two-year, bipartisan budget bill, the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013.

Patty Murray put the controversial intelligence ports-data project Global Trade Exchange into the Homeland Security budget.

Patty Murray condemned the genocide of the Rohingya Muslim minority in Myanmar, and called for a stronger response to the crisis.

In December 2010, Patty Murray voted for the ratification of New START, a nuclear arms reduction treaty between the US and the Russian Federation obliging both countries to have no more than 1,550 strategic warheads as well as 700 launchers deployed during the next seven years along with providing a continuation of on-site inspections that halted when START I expired the previous year.

In October 2002, Patty Murray was one of 21 Democrats in the Senate to vote against the War Authorization for invading Iraq.

In December 2002, speaking to students at Columbia River High School in Vancouver, Patty Murray made a number of remarks about Osama bin Laden as she attempted to explain why the US had such problems winning hearts and minds in the Muslim world, and how bin Laden had garnered support among some in the Middle East.

In 2014, Patty Murray introduced legislation in the Senate called The Emergency Contraception Access and Education Act.

Patty Murray's amendment required 60 votes to move forward, and all but three Republicans voted against the measure.

In December 2018, Patty Murray was one of 42 senators to sign a letter to Trump administration officials Alex Azar, Seema Verma, and Steve Mnuchin, arguing that the administration was improperly using Section 1332 of the Affordable Care Act to authorize states to "increase health care costs for millions of consumers, while weakening protections for individuals with pre-existing conditions".

In July 2019, Patty Murray signed a letter to United States Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta that advocated that the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration initiate a full investigation into a complaint filed on May 20 by a group of Chicago-area employees of McDonald's that detailed workplace violence incidents, including interactions with customers such as customers throwing hot coffee and threatening employees with firearms.

In 1996, Patty Murray voted for the Defense of Marriage Act, which banned federal recognition of same-sex marriage by limiting the definition of marriage to the union of a man and a woman.

Patty Murray repeatedly cosponsored legislation to create the Wild Sky Wilderness area in the Washington Cascade Range.

Patty Murray eventually succeeded, with the bill signed by President George W Bush on May 8,2008.

Patty Murray has supported legislation to increase the size of the Alpine Lakes Wilderness, in the Washington Cascades.

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported that Patty Murray asked for, and received, an apology.

On January 30,2008, Patty Murray endorsed Hillary Clinton in the 2008 Democratic presidential primaries.

On May 28,2021, Patty Murray abstained from voting on the creation of the January 6 commission.

Patty Murray cited a "personal family matter" for the abstention.

Patty Murray had expressed support for the commission and had talked about her experience on the day of the insurrection.

In December 2018, Patty Murray was one of 21 senators to sign a letter to United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs Robert Wilkie, calling it "appalling that the VA is not conducting oversight of its own outreach efforts", in spite of suicide prevention being the VA's highest clinical priority, and requesting Wilkie "consult with experts with proven track records of successful public and mental health outreach campaigns, with a particular emphasis on how those individuals measure success".

Patty Murray is married to Rob Patty Murray and has two grown children: Sara and Randy.