Which Counties Carried Murray to 6th Term in Congress?
For the first time in her 30-year 'career' in the US Senate, Patty Murray was seriously challenged by GOP contender Tiffany Smiley.
Which counties went for Murray? Some are surprising
Smiley won 25 of the state's 39 counties, including every county east of the Cascades. Murray was carried by King, no surprise, with a margin of over 212,000 more votes than her challenger.
The margin of victory statewide for Murray was just over 191,000. However, a look at some counties on the west side of the Cascades shows some surprising totals.
Murray strongly carried Jefferson, Island, Kitsap, and even Clark County. Four years ago, Gov. Inslee was able to help terminate a huge oil terminal development project slated for Vancouver (the largest city in the county) and Murray's environmental stance mirrors that of the Governor. Yet Clark went for Murray, much as they did for Inslee in 2020.
Jefferson County also strongly went for Murray, despite having had economic issues over the years that often resulted in clashes with state officials.
Some of Smiley's county wins were by smaller margins
For example, Smiley did not 'run away' from Murray in Spokane county, and there were a few others where her margin of victory was in the single digits. The Spokane margin for Smiley was roughly 53 to 46 percent.
Murray's margin in King County was roughly 74 to 25 percent, and the margin in Thurston County (Olympia) was 19 percent. Thurston is considered a Democratic stronghold due to the capitol. By comparison, in many Eastern WA Counties, Smiley won by 3 or even 4-1 margins.
The race was perhaps one of the most expensive races in WA state history, As of four days before the election, a combined $35 million had been spent on the campaigns. An estimated $15 for Smiley, the rest for Murray.
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