(Seattle, WA) – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) made her way across Seattle and King County, where she stressed the importance of voting and detailed the stakes of this election — she also highlighted her ongoing work for Washingtonians, including efforts to lower everyday costs for the basics and building an economy that puts working families first — not billionaires and giant corporations. Today’s events are part of the Senator’s continued Patty for WA Campaign Tour of town halls, roundtable conversations, and Get Out The Vote events to discuss key issues and highlight the stakes of Patty’s race in Washington state.  

This morning, Patty joined Washington State Sen. Manka Dhingra (LD-45) and South Asian leaders and community members at Mayuri, an Indian grocery store in Redmond. Murray spoke with voters about the work she is doing to lower costs and help small businesses, including the provisions she authored in the American Rescue Plan and other COVID relief legislation to help small businesses across Washington state.

Afterwards, Patty headed to the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle for a roundtable discussion with parents and the Alliance for Gun Responsibility, about how Murray is working to build safer communities — including by combating gun violence in Washington state and across the country. According to recent reporting, gun violence in King County this year is already outpacing last year. Murray highlighted her work in passing the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act this summer and her commitment to passing further gun safety reforms like universal background checks and an assault weapons ban.

Murray’s opponent, MAGA Republican Tiffany Smiley, has notably refused to back any additional gun safety measures even after being repeatedly pressed on the issue, including during both debates. Smiley has said she is “a strong supporter” of the 2nd Amendment but has been notably silent about what she would do when it comes to preventing gun violence — her “public safety” platform doesn’t mention gun violence a single time. Smiley has also said, in reference to mass shootings, that “I do not think they are a uniquely American problem” — despite the fact that numerous analyses have shown that it is; and that the U.S leads the developed world in gun deaths.

Later in the afternoon, Patty attended an “Our Communities, Our Votes” conversation in Beacon Hill with local community leaders and families to discuss the stakes of this election on issues important to families and kids, the importance of voting, and her work to build an economy that puts working families first — not giant corporations and billionaires.

Patty has led the fight in the U.S. Senate on key issues facing Washington state families, from child care to paid leave to bringing down the cost of health care. Murray played a key role in passing the American Rescue Plan, which secured millions in funding to reopen schools safely, delivered the largest-ever one-time investment in child care, and established the expanded Child Tax Credit, which led to a 46% drop in child poverty in a single year.

At the events, Murray also spoke about her work to lower prescription drug costs and health care costs with the Inflation Reduction Act, which — among many other things — extends health care tax credits that have saved millions of Americans thousands of dollars on health care, and empowers Medicare to negotiate lower prescription drug costs for seniors, which will bring down costs for patients and generate enormous savings for taxpayers.