Patty Murray

Patricia Lynn Murray (born October 11, 1950) is an American politician who has served as president pro tempore of the United States Senate since 2023 and the senior United States Senator from Washington since 1993.

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

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

As a citizen-lobbyist for environmental and educational issues, Murray has said that a state representative once told her she could not make a difference because she was just a "mom in tennis shoes".

The phrase stuck, and she later used it in her successful campaigns for the Shoreline School District board of directors (1985–89), Washington State Senate (1989–93), and United States Senate (1993–present).

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

She ran for the Washington State Senate in 1988, and defeated two-term incumbent Bill Kiskaddon.

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

A member of the Democratic Party, Murray served in the Washington State Senate from 1989 to 1993.

She was Washington's first female U.S. senator and is the first woman in American history to hold the position of president pro tempore.

Murray is also the youngest senator to occupy the office of president pro tempore in more than five decades.

As president pro tempore, Murray is third in the line of succession to the U.S. presidency.

Born and raised in Bothell, Washington, Murray graduated from Washington State University with a degree in physical education.

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

A long-time advocate for environmental and education issues, Murray was elected to serve on her local school board in King County.

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

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

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

For the 118th Congress in 2023, she was elected Senate president pro tempore after Patrick Leahy retired from the Senate; the office is usually held by the longest served senior senator of the majority party, but Senator Dianne Feinstein (who was also elected in 1992, but took her seat a few months prior to Murray because she won a special election, rather than a regularly scheduled one) declined the post due to ailing health, leaving Murray the next in line for the position.

Murray would ultimately become the most senior serving Democrat upon Feinstein's death later that year.

Murray is the first woman to hold the position.

As president pro tempore of the Senate, she is currently third in the United States presidential line of succession.

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

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.

In 1992, Murray announced her candidacy for the U.S. Senate after The Seattle Times published a series of articles alleging that incumbent Democratic Senator Brock Adams had sexually assaulted a number of women.

Adams denied the allegations, but his popularity weakened considerably and he chose to retire rather than risk losing the seat for his party.

Murray defeated Congressman Don Bonker for the Democratic nomination.

In the general election she defeated Republican Congressman Rod Chandler, 54% to 46%, despite being outspent by a wide margin.

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, and assistant Democratic leader.

She currently chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Before assuming her current roles, Murray has previously chaired at various times, the Veterans' Affairs Committee, the Budget Committee, and the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.

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.

Murray is currently the third-most senior senator, the most senior Senate Democrat, the 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.

Her mother was an accountant.

Her father served in World War II and was awarded a Purple Heart.

Her ancestry includes Welsh, Irish, Scottish, and French-Canadian.

When she was a teenager, her family was forced to apply for welfare assistance when her father became disabled due to multiple sclerosis.

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

Murray attended Saint Brendan Catholic School as a young child.