SEATTLE NEWS ARCHIVES & FEATURES
Tiffany Smiley pushes for debate with Patty Murray in U.S. Senate Race
Jun 27, 2022, 2:41 PM | Updated: 2:56 pm
Photo by Bill Clark
After 14 months of vying to overtake the U.S. Senate seat held by Democratic incumbent Patty Murray, who has held the seat for nearly three decades, candidate Tiffany Smiley said she continues to pose the same question to Washington state voters on the campaign trail.
“I ask everyone I talk to, ‘Are you better off than you were two years ago?’” Smiley (R-Pasco) told Dori Monson Show listeners Monday. “They always say ‘no – we’re worse and there’s no end in sight.’”
Smiley explained what voters tell her.
“They just want common sense,” the former Tri-Cities-area nurse and current veterans’ programs advocate continued. “No. 1 is crime – not just in Seattle, but it’s in Bellingham, it’s in Spokane, it’s reaching out to the Yakima Valley. We have fentanyl coming across the southern border, coming into our schools killing 4.0 [GPA} students and basketball players.”
Voters are also complaining about “inflation – from the grocery store to the gas pump. These are issues that are affecting Washington families every single day.”
As crime rates and inflation continue to grow, Smiley said, Washingtonians are growing disillusioned with Democrats in leadership.
It’s likely part of the reason that Murray (D-Seattle) has started running attack ads in a race that is still six months away from the election, Smiley continued.
“It’s because we have a real grassroots movement,” Smiley told Dori. The former Tri-Cities-area nurse said she is “individually funded by the people of Washington state to the tune of nearly $6 million.”
Murray’s backing, Smiley said one newspaper writer told her, “has changed. It’s all D.C. and special interests. She’s lost touch with the people.”
As last week’s U.S. Supreme Court decision regarding Roe v. Wade becomes another issue facing candidates – and consequently voters – Dori asked Smiley if she expects to spar with Murray in a scheduled debate.
“I certainly hope so,” Smiley said. “We haven’t heard back [from her campaign team] yet. She owes the voters of Washington state an explanation.”
Listen to Dori Monson weekday afternoons from noon – 3 p.m. on KIRO Newsradio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.
Follow @http://www.twitter.com/dorimonson
