Senator Murray Advances Past Primary in Washington

August 18, 2010

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Senator Patty Murray, Democrat of Washington, moved a step closer toward a fourth term on Tuesday by advancing past the primary in a race that could be pivotal in the battle for control of the Senate.

Ms. Murray and Dino Rossi, a Republican, were the top two vote-getters in the primary and will face off again in November in a race that Republicans may need to win if the party wants to take back control of the Senate.

Mr. Rossi, a real estate investor, has been attacking Ms. Murray over her efforts to bring home federal money when the debt is growing out of control.

Ms. Murray says her experience and clout in the nation’s capital make her the right candidate for the job. She campaigned with President Obama on Tuesday during his national fund-raising tour to drive home her point.

Washington was one of three states holding elections on Tuesday. Wyoming was deciding a primary in the race to replace Gov. Dave Freudenthal, a popular Democrat, and Democrats in a legislative district along the California coast were hoping to lock up a State Senate seat in a special election that has attracted the interest of the president.

If the Democratic candidate wins the open seat, it would bring the party within one vote of the two-thirds majority they need in the Senate to approve budgets and tax increases. That possibility prompted the endorsement from Mr. Obama, who says the ability of Republican state lawmakers to block the spending plans of majority Democrats is equivalent to the roadblocks he has faced in Congress. In Wyoming, Republicans are likely to reclaim a Democrat-held governor’s seat. Mr. Freudenthal is term-limited, and Democrats were unable to field a strong candidate to replace him, meaning the winner of the Republican primary will be the big favorite in the general election.

The four leading candidates are Matt Mead, a former United States attorney for Wyoming; Ron Micheli, a former director of the Wyoming Department of Agriculture and longtime member of the State House; the state auditor, Rita Meyer; and Colin Simpson, whose father and grandfather both represented Wyoming in the Senate.

The race was extremely tight, with Ms. Meyer and Mr. Mead a handful of votes apart.

Whoever wins will face Leslie Petersen, the Wyoming Democratic Party chairwoman.

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