Washington State Democratic Party Chair Tina Podlodowski offered the following statement on news that Republican Tiffany Smiley declared her intention to run against Senator Patty Murray in the 2022 elections:

“Senator Murray goes to work every day focused on getting things done for the people of Washington state—whether it’s lowering health care costs, helping students afford college, or fighting to get our state through the COVID-19 crisis by making sure the federal government delivers vaccines, funding to help schools safely re-open, and direct relief to communities statewide. And, as the daughter of a World War II veteran and Purple Heart recipient, Patty is proud of her record of working across the aisle consistently to strengthen services for Washington state veterans and military families.

“The bottom line is, Washington state voters have a champion in Patty Murray who fights every day for them in the other Washington, and the last person we need representing us is a Trump-supporting conservative who will put Mitch McConnell and extreme Republican leaders ahead of the people of Washington state.”