Midterm election results: Patty Murray defeats Tiffany Smiley in Washington Senate race

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Patty Murray defeats Tiffany Smiley for re-election in Washington Senate race

, author of Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) speaks during a small-business town hall campaign event on Oct. 13. Photo: Lindsey Wasson/Getty Images U.S. Sen. Patty Murray has defeated Republican challenger Tiffany Smiley, crushing in reliably blue Washington state. Driving the news: The Associated Press called the race for Murray on after showed the incumbent up by about 14 percentage points on election night. Why it matters: Recent polls showed , the third-highest-ranking Senate Democrat. That gave Republicans hope for a bigger-than-expected red wave — and prompted Democrats to to defend Murray, who has held the seat for 30 years.Nationwide, Democrats are to their tenuous control of Congress — or at least prevent Republicans from gaining too many seats. Catch up quick: Throughout the campaign, Murray had criticized Smiley's stance on , while Smiley, a veterans’ advocate and former nurse, had attacked Murray over and .Murray's campaign argued that Smiley — who described herself as "100% pro-life" and expressed her support for Texas' restrictive abortion ban — holds views that are out of step with Washingtonians. The candidates also disagreed about President Biden's , with Murray supporting it and Smiley denouncing it as an unfair giveaway.On climate legislation, Murray praised the recent Inflation Reduction Act as a necessary step to curb planet-rising greenhouse gas emissions. Smiley attacked the measure, predicting it would raise energy costs. The intrigue: Smiley also argued that Murray had been in office too long, calling herself the "new mom in town." That's a reference to Murray adopted early in her political career after a male legislator discounted her as "just a mom in tennis shoes."

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