Patty Murray

Patricia Lynn Murray (born Patricia Johns; October 11, 1950) is an American politician serving as the senior United States Senator from Washington, since 1993. A member of the Democratic Party, Murray previously served in the Washington State Senate and is Washington's first female U.S. Senator. Born and raised in Bothell, Washington, Murray graduated from Washington State University with a degree in physical education. Murray worked as a preschool teacher and, later, as a parenting teacher at Shoreline Community College. A long-time advocate for environmental and education issues, Murray chose to run for the Washington State Senate in 1988 and successfully defeated a two-term incumbent. She served one term in the state senate before launching a successful campaign for the United States Senate in 1992. She has since been reelected four times. As a Senator, Murray has been a part of party leadership since 2001, having served as Chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Democratic Conference Secretary, Assistant Democratic Leader, among several committee chair positions. She garnered national attention in 2013 when Murray and Republican Representative Paul Ryan announced that they had negotiated a two-year, bi-partisan budget, known as the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013. Murray is currently the 6th most senior member of the United States Senate, the 3rd most senior Democrat, and the dean of Washington's congressional delegation.