The Senate seat in Washington state that Senator Patty Murray currently holds may not be as secure as the Democrats would like to think. For the first time in decades, Murray is at risk of being unseated – and yes, the word is DECADES.

Patty Murray was first elected to the Senate in 1992. As a resident of Washington state, I remember it well – because I was in eighth grade U.S. History and we were following the elections in class. Murray has been in office for thirty years, and while she has risen up in the ranks of Democrat leadership within the Senate and Washington state has become bluer, Murray has hardly made much of an impact in the state. She has come to see her Senate seat as a sinecure, something she is entitled to have for almost no work. Here is a prime example of Murray’s sheer laziness: in August, a $19 million grant was given via the infamous bipartisan infrastructure bill to the city of Bothell for continued work on a widenening project of a highway. There was a big ceremony and speeches were given, and… Senator Maria Cantwell showed up. Now, Maria Cantwell is not up for re-election until 2024. Why did it raise my eyebrows that Patty Murray wasn’t at this event? Because Patty Murray is from Bothell, Washington, according to her own official biography. A big federal grant is given to her hometown, her fellow Democrat senator shows up, but MURRAY is the one who is running for re-election! This was tailor-made for a photo op for her campaign, and Murray simply could not be bothered to show up. Why is Murray hiding? It’s either lazy entitlement, or sheer pants-wetting cowardice.

And given how hard she is running from having to debate her Republican challenger in this election, Tiffany Smiley, I’m betting on the sheer pants-wetting cowardice. Let me say this frankly – we here in Washington state do NOT have a deep bench when it comes to Republican challengers. It’s pretty thin on the ground here. Tiffany Smiley is the best chance there has been in a generation to break the blue stranglehold on the statewide election for United States Senate. And the Murray campaign knows that, which is why they have completely weaseled about until the last minute and have only agreed to ONE debate on October 23rd – which is AFTER voting starts in Washington state (which has had mail-in balloting for well over ten years).

But never fear for Patty Murray, the local media and marketing minions have been sent forth on her behalf! First up was the Seattle Seahawks, who issued a “cease and desist” letter to the Tiffany Smiley campaign because… her husband DARED to wear a Seahawks jersey in two seconds of a campaign ad. This is the ad in question, which the Smiley campaign “fixed” by simply removing the bright green color digitally off Scott Smiley’s jersey.

The message of the ad hits the inflation message hard, and we can’t have that! But multiple local media personalities noticed the very big hypocrisy on behalf of the Seahawks. They are, let’s say, somewhat SELECTIVE in who they send those “cease and desist” letters to. First of all, the Seahawks themselves honored Scott Smiley, Tiffany Smiley’s husband, at a game back in 2014, when he was invited to raise the 12th Man flag before a game.

I wonder if this is the same jersey from the ad. It's hard to tell in the ad because you just see part of the top of his shoulders, which demonstrates exactly why these copyright claims are bogus.

I am also curious if the Seahawks gave him the jersey pic.twitter.com/aGlfqqGr7d

— Ari Hoffman (@thehoffather) October 2, 2022

According to Tiffany Smiley’s biography, her husband Scott was serving in Iraq in 2005 when he was blinded in both eyes by a suicide bomber. With Tiffany’s help, Scott eventually became the first active duty blind officer in the Army. Her personal story is very compelling – and the Democrats know it. And if the Seahawks complain, then Patty Murray can keep her hands clean. Except that the Seahawks’ own hypocrisy is pretty obvious here.

So how do you explain this from a Democratic candidate’s campaign page? @TarraSimmons5 has done AWESOME things with her life — but so has the Smiley family.

Are you a football team or a political organization? pic.twitter.com/ChJdd7RegA

— Brandi Kruse (@BrandiKruse) October 1, 2022

Whoops. And then there’s the local media and companies. How dare Tiffany Smiley use local media against Patty Murray by pointing massive crime problems via an article in The Seattle Times???
https://twitter.com/MrAndyNgo/status/1576683764779864065
As Kimberley Strassel in the Wall Street Journal points out, these are heavyweights who are using their leverage on behalf of Patty Murray.

“Cup of Coffee” went live on Sept. 20. The next day, the Seattle Times sent an email to the “Jane Smiley” campaign—apparently without running it past its fact-checking desk—accusing it of “unauthorized use of The Seattle Times logo and two headlines” in violation of the paper’s “copyright and trademark.” It demanded the campaign remove any references to the paper not only in its own ad, but in an NBC News article about the ad’s launch.”

Two days later, Starbucks sent a certified letter saying the campaign was appropriating its intellectual property, and complaining it might “create an unfounded association in the minds of consumers between Starbucks and your campaign.” It insisted the campaign either pull the ad or alter it to strip both the (barely visible, backward) sign and the Seattle Times headline referencing Starbucks.”

Strassel openly wondered if all these “incidents” were a result of the Murray campaign making a few behind-the-scenes phone calls to the Seahawks, Starbucks, and The Seattle Times. Regardless, the Smiley campaign did not back down.

The campaign didn’t roll over. It made a painless accommodation to the “Game Day” ad, blurring the jersey colors to obscure anything distinct. In a legal letter sent Thursday to Starbucks, the campaign rebutted the company’s infringement claims, running through political speech protections and noting that no reasonable person would ever think a factual ad about shuttered Starbucks stores amounted to a coffee-chain endorsement. It suggested Starbucks focus on its own problems, like its recent union woes.”

The Seattle Times also received a letter refuting its claims, but it got something in addition. The Smiley campaign on Thursday filed a Federal Election Commission complaint, charging the paper with providing the Murray campaign a prohibited in-kind contribution. It turns out that Ms. Murray has also used a Seattle Times headline in her ads. Her “First 2016 Ad” sports the newspaper’s logo under the headline: “Patty Murray’s and Paul Ryan’s Teamwork Is a Model for Congress.” It seems the Times has a different legal standard for candidates it endorses.”

As the FEC complaint notes, the Smiley campaign would have to spend an estimated $5,000 to remove and update the ad—“costs that Patty Murray does not have to accrue.” It cites FEC regulations that provide “if a corporation makes its resources available for free, it must do so for all candidates.”

There hasn’t been this much panic over a Republican challenger to the Democrat status quo in Washington state for YEARS. And the current news is not improving for Democrats nationwide – which leaves an opening for Tiffany Smiley to pull off a blindsiding upset, if she can motivate Washington state voters to get out and vote for her. We are five weeks away from the election. Patty Murray is still projected to win. But that this Washington state Senate race is actually competitive is a bellweather for the rest of the country – if anyone is actually paying attention.

Featured image: Washington state flag seal via Wikimedia Commons, cropped, public domain