Smiley launches last-minute bus tour two weeks from midterm
Oct 25, 2022, 12:23 PM | Updated: Oct 7, 2024, 9:50 am
(Photo courtesy of Tiffany Smiley's Facebook)
(Photo courtesy of Tiffany Smiley's Facebook)
Following the first debate with Democratic Sen. Patty Murray, GOP challenger Tiffany Smiley has launched a 28-county bus tour through Washington with just two weeks until the midterm election.
The last-minute effort to shore up support comes as polling data suggests a tightening race — although still one in which Smiley is trailing.
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An Oct. 20 – 22 poll sponsored by the conservative group Citizens United reports Democratic incumbent Senator Patty Murray ahead, 48 to 42 percent. Republican voters may see this as a victory in itself as just two months prior, Smiley was polling far worse – 14.5 points below Murray, according to an average of polls from FiveThirtyEight.
Polling models from aggregator FiveThirtyEight expect Murray will win re-election, giving it a 93 in 100 chance. Nate Silver, the founder of FiveThirtyEight, reports their models account for prior polling errors in 2016 and 2020 — which overstated support for Democratic candidates.
Another poll, carried out Oct. 14 – 19 by SurveyUSA, has Murray ahead by 8 points (49% to 41%). However, the poll also noted a marked change in voting demographics among those self-identifying as independents, with Smiley up 16 points over Murray. That poll was commissioned by KING-TV, the Seattle Times, the University of Washington Center for an Informed Public, and Washington State University Murrow College.
Smiley’s campaign has planned 46 stops throughout the state, starting Monday at the Red Dog Saloon in Maple Valley. Tuesday, the bus tour is scheduled to stop at yet-undisclosed locations in Covington at 8:30 a.m. and Issaquah at Noon.
“I am ending this campaign the same way I began,” said Tiffany Smiley in a statement announcing the tour, “by speaking directly with the voters of Washington. Over the past 18 months I have been all over this amazing state – from smokey cigar rooms to living rooms, laying out my plan to bring Recovery and Reform after 30 years of Senator Murray’s failed policies. I look forward to this last opportunity to meet with voters and see the many friends I have made across the state. I have no doubt that when the ballots are tallied this year, Washingtonians will have cast them for hope over the status quo.”
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