WASHINGTON
      Nov. 2, 2010 U.S. Senate

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+Patty Murray (D) i
 1,314,930
 		52.36%
Dino Rossi (R)
 		1,196,164
 		47.64%

2,511,094
Registration: 3,601,268.  Total ballots counted: 2,565,589. 
Plurality: 118,766 votes (4.73 percentage points).
 WA Sec. of State


Notes:  U.S. Sen. Patty Murray (D) won a fourth term, defeating Dino Rossi (R), a former state senator who was the Republican nominee for governor in 2008 and 2004.

Fifteen candidates competed in the Aug. 17 primary; Murray finished first with 670,284 votes (46.22%), and Rossi second at 483,305 votes (33.33%).  Tea Party aligned Clint Didier (R) did not make the cut for the general election, finishing third.  In 2004 Rossi lost to Christine Gregoire by just 129 votes in the closest gubernatorial race in U.S. history; in 2008 the margin was wider, 53.2% to 46.8%.  In 2010, Rossi was a relatively late entrant into the race, announcing his candidacy on May 26.

Murray and Rossi engaged in two debates: at KSPS public television studios in Spokane on Oct. 14 (>), and at KOMO-TV 4 studios in Seattle on Oct. 17 (>).

President Barack Obama (>), First Lady Michelle Obama (>) and Vice President Joe Biden all campaigned for Murray.

Open Secrets reports the Murray campaign raised $17.1 million and spent $17.3 million compared to $9.7 million raised and $9.6 million spent by the Rossi campaign; further there was $22.7 million in outside spending led by NRSC ($5.2M), Crossroads GPS ($3.6M)  and American Crossroads ($1.1M) on the Republican side and DSCC ($4.0M), Commonsense Ten ($1.5M), and NEA Advocacy Fund ($1.4M) on the Democratic side (>).



Campaign Managers:
Patty Murray:  Jeff Bjornstad
Chief of staff to Sen. Murray from Jan. 2007.  Chief of staff to U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen, Jan. 2001-Dec. 2006.  Chief of staff to U.S. Rep. and state Sen. Adam Smith, Apr. 1990-Dec. 2000.  Executive director of the Washington State Senate Democratic Campaign Committee.  J.D. from Seattle University School of Law, 1995; undergraduate degree from University of Washington, 1990.

Dino Rossi:  Pat Shortridge
Formed a consulting company in 2007.  Senior advisor to Florida U.S. Senate candidate Marco Rubio, 2009-10.  Midwest regional political director at the NRCC, 2009-10.  Chief of staff to U.S. Rep. Mark Kennedy, 2002-06.  Worked for U.S. Rep. Dick Armey for 10 1/2 years.  Studied at Macalester College.  Grew up in Winona, MN.


See also:
M.S. Kaura.  "Patty Murray vs. Dino Rossi: Analyzing the 2010 Washington State Senatorial Race."  Inquiries, 2011, Vol. 3 No. 2.

Joel Connelly.  "The amazing Patty Murray does it again."  SeattlePI.com, Nov. 3, 2010.

David Catanese.  "Murray, Rossi make closing pitches."   Politico, Nov. 2, 2010.

Kyung M. Song.  "Rossi to seek Murray's seat, sources say."  The Seattle Times, May 24, 2010.

Joel Connelly.  "Rossi at Senate Starting Gate: Will He?"  SeattlePI.com, May 20, 2010.



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