Ed Murray

Murray was defeated by state Representative Pat Thibaudeau, but was then appointed to fill Thibaudeau's vacant state House seat in the 43rd Legislative District.

The 43rd district, entirely within Seattle, includes the University District, Montlake, Eastlake, and Capitol Hill neighborhoods.

The district is very progressive and reliably Democratic.

Edward Bernard Patrick Murray (born May 2, 1955) is an American politician from the state of Washington who most recently served as the 53rd mayor of Seattle from 2014 to 2017.

Murray graduated from the University of Portland in 1980; he majored in sociology.

Murray began his career doing pretrial work for public defenders in Portland.

He then returned to Seattle, becoming a paralegal, and quickly became active in local politics there.

He is gay, and came out in 1980.

He was campaign manager for Cal Anderson, the first openly gay legislator in Washington state, in 1988 before becoming an assistant to City Councilmember Martha Choe.

Murray later managed a nonprofit focused on gay rights.

In 1995, Murray, a Democrat, ran to fill the state Senate seat left vacant by the death of Anderson, his mentor.

A Democrat, he was previously a state legislator, first with the Washington State House of Representatives from 1996 to 2007, then the Washington State Senate from 2007 to 2013.

He was reelected biennially until 2006, when he opted not to run for reelection to the House.

In 2006, Murray announced his intention to challenge Thibaudeau for the 43rd District seat in the State Senate.

In May 2006, Thibaudeau dropped out and Murray was elected to the Senate with little opposition.

He led the push for an anti-discrimination law barring businesses from discriminating against gays and lesbians, a measure that finally passed in 2006 after three decades of debate.

He took his senate seat in January 2007.

In his first session in the senate (2007–08), he was appointed vice chair of the majority caucus and in the 2009–10 session, he served as caucus chair, a post that largely is in charge of budget for the Senate and other housekeeping matters.

He was also the main sponsor of legislation creating domestic partnerships, approved in 2007.

In 2009, Murray was the prime sponsor of a $2.4 billion Washington Senate financing bill authorizing the construction of a deep-bore tunnel underneath Seattle to replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct.

Murray advocated for the project, which attracted well-documented concerns.

After being reelected unopposed in 2010, Murray was appointed chair of the Ways & Means Committee for 2011–12.

Murray previously served as chair of the House Transportation Committee.

He was also active in advancing LGBT rights.

Bertha, the machine drilling the deep-bore tunnel, broke down in December 2013, leading to costly delays and significant challenges such as destabilizing soil conditions under Seattle's historic Pioneer Square and the Viaduct itself.

Murray was elected mayor of Seattle in 2013.

In 2013, he married Michael Shiosaki at St. Mark's in Seattle; the two had been in a relationship for 22 years.

Murray did not emphasize his sexual orientation during his career, describing himself as "a Democrat who happens to be gay."

During his campaign for the Senate, as in many of his previous campaigns, he won the backing of the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund.

Five people have accused Murray of sexual abuse.

In 2017, Murray faced multiple allegations of child abuse, rape and sexual molestation, including some from family members and children under his care.

He denies the allegations.

Murray resigned as mayor of Seattle on September 12, 2017.

Murray was born in Aberdeen, Washington, to an Irish Catholic family, and is one of seven siblings in his family.

He spent much of his childhood in West Seattle's Alki neighborhood, but attended high school at Timberline High School in Lacey, where he served as student body president.

He ran for reelection in 2017, but ended his campaign on May 9 amid allegations of child sexual abuse.

On September 12, 2017, amid more sexual abuse claims, Murray announced his resignation effective the next day.

Murray is of Irish descent.

In April 2017, a lawsuit claimed that he "raped and molested" a teenager in 1986, paying cash for sex to a high-school dropout addicted to crack cocaine.

As of mid-2018, cost overruns on the tunnel project exceed $600 million.