Patty Murray is an American politician who is the senior United States senator from Washington, first elected in 1992. A member of the Democratic Party, Murray previously served in the Washington State Senate and was Washington's first female U.S. senator. Born and raised in Bothell, Washington, Murray graduated from Washington State University with a degree in physical education. She worked as a pre-school teacher and, later, as a parenting teacher at Shoreline Community College. A long-time advocate for environmental and education issues, Murray ran for the Washington State Senate in 1988, and defeated two-term incumbent Bill Kiskaddon. She served one term in the state senate, before launching a successful campaign for the United States Senate in 1992. She has been re-elected four times, and is currently running for a sixth term in the 2022 election. As a senator, Murray has been a part of party leadership since 2001, having served as chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Democratic Conference secretary, and assistant Democratic leader, among several committee chair positions. Murray garnered national attention in 2013, when she and Republican representative Paul Ryan announced that they had negotiated a two-year, bipartisan budget, known as the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013. Murray is currently the sixth most senior member of the senate, the third most senior Democrat, and the dean of Washington's congressional delegation.