Murray thumps Nethercutt

Kayla Webley
2004-11-03
The Daily

Incumbent Sen. Patty Murray (D) trumped former U.S. representative George Nethercutt's (R) run for the U.S. Senate with a 9 percent margin of victory with 93 percent of precincts reporting early this morning.

"Thank you so much to the state of Washington for giving me the tremendous honor ... for another six years," said Murray, in a speech following the announcement of her victory.

Murray promised to continue to serve Washington residents by listening to their voices.

"You will always have a voice at the table when I am speaking for you in the Senate. I will stand up and speak out for Washington first," said Murray. "I will always have the courage to listen to my inner voice and speak ... because that's what you have asked me to do."

The race was decided early yesterday evening, with initial results showing Murray with a demanding lead in initial reports from precincts.

Nethercutt based his campaign on unseating the incumbent, pushing for strong U.S. international presence and tax breaks.

Ashleigh Flowers, UW sophomore and of the Washington State Democrats, said that Murray's victory was expected.

"We all knew it was coming. Nethercutt has been talking for a long time about all this momentum he has, and it never gets materialized, and it didn't get materialized tonight," said Flowers. "It's very exciting. The citizens of Washington know how hard Patty Murray works for them ... what is happening tonight is really just proof of that."

Murray has been a U.S. senator since 1992. Before making her senate run, she served on the state Senate from 1988 to 1992. Before that, the WSU grad was a physical education teacher.

Murray boasted that if Democratic comrade Christine Gregoire wins the gubernatorial race and with Maria Cantwell and herself in office, Washington state will become the first state in history with women holding the top three elected positions.

Over the next six years, Murray will continue to focus on defense and education.

"[Murray] will continue to support our troops, homeland security is going to be huge, protecting Washington state and our ports, and actually supporting education," said Flowers. "The Bush doctrine had left education completely unfunded, and I believe she will work to get the dollars that they need to support teachers and give all students the education they deserve."

Elspeth Williams, freshman and member of the UW chapter of Young Democrats, said Murray serves as a role model to young women.

"I think Patty Murray has provided our state with very strong leadership for the past 12 years," said Williams. "On a more personal level she is a great role model for young women. She's really stuck to her guns and her values, it's uncommon to see such strong and consistent leadership."

Sen. Maria Cantwell (D) spoke in support of Murray, and said that Murray will continue working for Washington.

"We know in Washington that if you work hard and speak to the values of Washington state, you can be successful and that is exactly what Patty Murray did tonight," said Cantwell. "Patty Murray worked hard for this state, and she is going to continue to work hard for this state."