Patty Murray vs. Dino Rossi: Analyzing the 2010 Washington State Senatorial Race

The 2010 Washington State senatorial race was crucial for Republicans, as it could have earned the GOP a Senate majority and eliminated the likelihood of Vice President Joe Biden’s casting a tie-breaking vote. A victory from Dino Rossi, the Republican candidate, would have given the Republicans their 51^st Senator and saved them the hassle of trying to win California, where polls have traditionally run against them (1, 68). The Democratic nominee, Patty Murray, ended up winning the race by 4.3% with 1,217,849 votes to Rossi’s 1,119,081 (12, 38, 41, 53). Given the race's significance, it is unsurprising that the Washington race was a campaign marred by mudslinging, ferocious debate, and “grossly malicious” advertisements (32, 39, 80).

Dino Rossi, the Republican candidate, is a two-time former gubernatorial candidate (the 2004 race was one of the closest in U.S. history; Rossi was sworn in as governor-elect before facing a recount) and also a former state senator (33, 34, 43). Now a wealthy commercial real estate executive, he believes in promoting economic growth and job creation and reforming healthcare and the tax code (33, 34, 43, 75). His career in the state Senate demonstrates his ability to assemble bipartisan coalitions to create fiscally responsible budgets. He sees himself as a “consensus builder” (33, 34, 43, 66, 75).

Rossi faced three-term incumbent Patty Murray, a self-portrayed “Mom in Tennis Shoes” who “comes home every weekend” (33, 34, 44). Murray is the fourth-ranking Democrat in the Senate and is “ninth for bringing federal money back home” (33, 34). The first election she won was an upset primary victory over incumbent Brock Adams after a sex scandal in the 1992 Year of the Woman (33, 34). Her freshman term in the Senate was unremarkable. She pulled herself together for her second election, and when the “GOP picked the wrong candidate,” she won by a landslide, focusing on trade and transportation issues. She was also the only Senator during this time to campaign to chair the DSCC. Though the Democrats failed to defeat Republicans in 2002, the fundraising and networking skills she learned proved beneficial in Murray’s 2004 race against the largely unknown George Nethercutt, who hailed from less-populous eastern Washington. They also proved critical in the 2010 race. Her three main areas of issue expertise are veteran’s affairs, national security, and education (44, 75).

Washington is unlike most highly partisan states, placing relatively little emphasis on issues and ideology (1, 7, 24, 25, 45, 51). So when Patty Murray announced her intent to run for re-election in mid-March 2010, she was considered a near lock to retain her seat – until Dino Rossi entered the campaign in late May, crowded out some early GOP hopefuls, and beat Tea Party favorite Clint Dider in the primary (8, 9, 10, 31, 52, 67, 76). Rossi was aggressively recruited by national Republican officials to challenge Murray, and he performed successfully in attempting to turn Murray’s chief strength – her ability to deliver federal money – into a liability (22). As the race tightened and tension increased, Democratic heavyweights Barack and Michelle Obama, Joe Biden, and Bill Clinton campaigned on behalf of Murray on two separate occasions – October 12 and October 21 – to help get people, in the words of the First Lady, “fired up” (19, 20, 26, 73). Both participated in get-out-the-vote efforts, where Democrats’ doorknocking organization surpassed Republicans’ (70). Most polls predicted reliable but slim Murray wins; by the evening of Thursday, November 4th, the race was called for Murray (18, 41, 48, 53). Rossi conceded not long thereafter (12, 14).

Though both candidates tried to move to the center after the primaries, voters had no trouble differentiating between them, as they each packaged their platforms along respective party lines, irrespective of ideology and participated in two televised debates (7, 45, 51).

The most important issue in the race was the economy (43, 44, 66, 70, 75) – voters from every socioeconomic demographic feared the ballooning deficit, reckless federal spending, and the threat of losing their job. For years, Murray’s position in the Senate Appropriations Committee helped her bring dozens of federal projects to Washington state. Rossi, however, contended that she was a part of the problem because she helped develop the deficit (22, 61, 74); he adhered closely to the Republican talking points of less spending and lower taxes (22). This helped him appeal to a number of voters outside of the Seattle area, who sympathized with his pro-business arguments (30). Rossi vehemently argued that there is a difference between federal earmarks and state spending, that the state’s budget must be balanced according to state law but that the “federal budget doesn’t, and isn’t” (22, 43, 66, 75). He also was against “all…of the class warfare that Sen. Murray wants to play” and instead called for general tax relief on income and estate taxes (61). Finally, he planned to “repeal health care reforms and replace them with medical liability reforms, access to out-of-state carriers, and better health savings accounts” (43). He did not support stimulus spending because he believed it didn’t create jobs (43, 75, 85).

Murray, on the other hand, supported health care reform, Wall Street regulations, and federal programs designed to stimulate the economy (6, 13, 17, 29, 44, 75, 78). She continually tried to remind the aerospace industry “that she’s been at the forefront of trying to get the Air Force to buy the next generation of aerial tankers from Boeing rather than from a consortium that includes the European maker of Airbus” (70, 75, 86). Both ignored the fact that they each get money from special interests when castigating each other (6, 11, 13, 17, 29, 35, 40, 42, 44, 60, 75, 78, 85, 86).

Rossi and Murray agreed on two things, though: veterans and Boeing. Murray never skipped a beat to tout her support for veterans and Boeing’s efforts to win a contract worth $35 billion to build the next Air Force tanker (23, 63). Rossi lacked Murray’s leverage with older voters and veterans, so his efforts to mobilize that group of voters was not as successful as he would have preferred (70).

Murray was victorious because of the strong support she received in King County and other areas around Puget Sound, her appeals to veterans, aircraft workers, and women, her defense of her use of earmarks, and her support of health care reform and financial regulation (70). In order for Rossi to have won, he would have had to do more than simply appeal to undecided voters (8, 9, 10, 31, 46, 52, 59 67). He needed more votes from eastern Washington –particularly in Pierce and Kitsap counties - higher male voter turnout, an improved standing among women, an ability to convince prospective Murray voters to cross to the other side, and more negativity in advertising. His strong demographics – independent voters who swayed right in this election, leads in eastern Washington, Pierce, and Kitsap counties (62, 81), and voters who make more than $100,000 a year – certainly helped, but they were not quite enough to defeat Murray’s trump cards: King county, women, baby boomers, retirees, veterans, and those making less than $50,000. Rossi’s attack on Murray’s use of earmarks – tying them to the national deficit – did not net him that many extra votes, because votes were evenly split on earmarks and local spending. Rossi won anti-deficit supporters and Murray, the stimulus supporters (65, 82, 83).

Both garnered the vast majority of voters in their parties (nearly 1:1 for both), but there are three important notables: the gender gap, the age gap, and the regional split (71, 72). Polls suggest that Murray and Rossi split the male vote fairly evenly (48:51), but that she had a substantial advantage among women (57:36), that Rossi did well with young voters (45:36), and Murray did better with baby boomers (57:37). The latter probably helped Murray quite a bit in this race, because older voters are very likely to vote (7). With respect to the regional split, Rossi won eastern Washington with little difficulty, but faired horribly in the all-important King County (65, 68, 82, 83).

Rossi appeared indecisive to many voters. He ran a campaign of cutting spending and taxes, and got heat from Republicans and Democrats alike for his stance on abortion: exclusions for rape, incest, or the life of the mother (43, 58, 69, 86). Clint Didier, the Tea Party favorite endorsed by Sarah Palin, asked Rossi to “take an unequivocal anti-abortion stand, make a no-new-taxes pledge, and promise not to increase federal spending,” which Rossi refused to do (2, 27, 28, 77). If he did what Didier asked, he might have picked up some of Didier’s fans from the Tea Party Movement while risking losing the swing and moderate Republican voters. Such maneuvering made his position in the debates more tenuous.

In the first debate, he seemed “flustered, unprepared, and nervous, stumbling over his answers, ignoring questions, and repeating standard Republican speaking points,” a perfect contrast to the cool and collected Murray who supported all of her stances. (6, 13, 17, 29, 78 44, 75). In the second debate, both sharply disagreed on the issue of immigration policy (50). While defending his idea of a “tall fence,” he again listed his grievances against Murray’s “massive bailouts and failed stimulus bill” instead of considering a more humanistic, holistic approach to examining the issue (50). Unsurprisingly, he lost the debate just as clearly as the first, and this likely solidified the clear choice in the underrepresented minority and ideological voter’s mind.

Daniel Khoury of Body Language TV states that Rossi came across as “insincere” in both 2004 and 2008 televised debates when he ran against Christine Gregiore in the gubernatorial election (50). Recycling footage was a “smart move” on Murray’s part, as sentiments expressed at that time by female voters would reaffirm their disgust of his “shady business practices and uncompromising stances on reproductive rights” (50, 57). In these 2010 debates, he displayed positive body language, showing trained signs of honesty and intelligence, whereas Murray’s body itself appeared confident, though she sometimes mumbled (50). Her greatest strength, it seems, was in appearing genuine and “untrained”; she related easily to women with her “Mom in Tennis Shoes” adage (50). She came across as “relatable” and “nice” despite her campaign staff’s draconian attempts to thwart the competition (50).

Rossi tried desperately to refute Murray’s pitch for the Disclose Act (legislation that would require corporations to disclose when they fund campaign advertisements) by pointing to the money she received from banks, which amounted to nearly $500,000 over her eighteen year career. Interestingly enough, banks actually gave her less than Rossi in this election: she received $1,250 from two J. P. Morgan employees and $1250 from Bank of America (35, 40, 42, 60).

Murray raised questions about the conservative groups that helped Rossi with attack ads against her; she said that the ads were paid for by “who knows who on Wall street or Airbus or Karl Rove” (39). The Murray campaign later admitted that it had no actual evidence that Airbus paid for the ads – just that it was a possibility, given the conservative groups’ lack of transparency about their donors (39).

Despite an initial strong showing in the polls, driven in part by his fellow pro-business sympathizers, his near-universal name recognition, and blue collar whites familiar with his background, Rossi was unable to sustain his upward trend (38, 76). For one, Washington has a deep Democratic heritage (1, 5, 49); 52.8% voted for John Kerry in 2004, 54.9% voted for Murray in 2004, 56.7% voted for Maria Cantwellin 2006, and 57.9% voted for Barack Obama in 2008, all of whom remain popular in the state. It is therefore unsurprising that Murray was able to eke out a win even in an anti-Democratic year.

Furthermore, Rossi’s performance in King County was underwhelming; Murray sustained a 60-point advantage there during the entire election (46, 59, 81).

Murray carried all major cities except Spokane and Tacoma; she held Thurstone (Olympia), Pacific, Grays Harbor, Jefferson, San Juan, Whatcom, Snohomah (81). King county is a Democratic stronghold, evidenced by their high population counts, education levels, and VAP turnout (81). Rossi, on the other hand, held most of eastern Washington, but wasn’t able to find the votes he needed beyond Spokane and Tacoma, areas marked by low turnout, low population counts, and low education levels (81). In regards to turnout in general; the state usually averages in the top 25% nationwide with VAP turnout rates hovering in 42.7% in 2006, 60.3% in 2008, and 43.1% in 2010 (81).

Given the nature of the Washington state polling scene (68), the average of two traditional overestimates—Rasmussen and Survey USA for Republicans, and Elway Research for Democrats—rendered a suitable prediction; Murray had a single-digit lead (65, 82, 83). Towards the end of the election cycle, she did quite well in the polls: Murray was up 3 points in YouGov’s Oct. 30 likely voter poll, 3 points in Marist’s Oct. 28 registered voter poll, 6 points in WashPoll’s Oct. 28 likely voter poll, 2 points in Fox News’ Oct. 28 likely voter poll, and 1 point in Marist’s registered voter poll (65, 82, 83).

Turnout in Washington state elections has traditionally been affected adversely for Republicans because of mail-in balloting – there are no polling places save for a couple in one county (36, 37, 79). it is a slow, meticulous process, as most counties lack ballot sorting machines and need to verify the signatures on the security envelope. While some voters mail in their ballots weeks ahead of Election Day, the vast majority – typically Democrats in King County – tend to cast their ballots on Monday and Tuesday; they can do so as late as midnight on Election Day (8, 9, 10, 31, 46, 52, 59, 67). This race was no different: almost all late mail-in voters broke for Murray (4, 15, 16, 84). Secretary of State Sam Reed projected a turnout of 66 percent, or 2.4 million voters; in reality, the rate was in the 40^th percentile (54, 55, 56).

Demographically speaking, independents broke for Republicans in this race, men voted for Rossi and women for Murray, younger voters prefer Rossi and older voters prefer Murray. Women broke for Murray at 56% and men for Rossi at 53%; white women and white men were at 53% and 56% respectively (65, 82, 83). No data was available for Blacks (3%), Latinos (6%), Asians (2%), and other (3%) and for minority men and women. More generally, metro Seattle favors Murray and eastern Washington favors Rossi. Rossi remained within single digits of Murray according to most polls (65, 82, 83). But because Washington is one of two states, along with Oregon, – where voting takes place almost entirely by mail, traditional likely voter models are less applicable. Mail ballotinghas led to generally high turnout, “so targets that might work well in other states could [and did] fail here” (68). Independents – 42% of the population – broke for Republicans in most polls leading up to the election, with the final surge of Independents and Democrats from King County breaking for Democrats and ensuring a Murray victory (4, 15, 16, 84). No data was available for the 18-29 age demographic (13%), though middle-aged voters (30-39 at 14% and 40-49 at 21%) favored Rossi and 50+ voters (50-64 at 29% and 65+ at 24%) favored Murray. Individuals earning less than $100K (75% of the population) favored Murray at 54% and those earning more than $100K (25%) favored Rossi (65). White voters who only graduated high school or attended some college broke for Rossi at 62%, whereas college graduates and postgraduates broke for Murray in droves, at nearly 64% (65). Self-identification was at 35% Democrats voting for 96% Murray, 23% Republicans at 96% Rossi, and 43% Independents at 59% Rossi (65). Labor unions (which constitute 20% of the population) supported Murray at 53% (65).

While much of the national political landscape was tilted against Democrats in the 2010 Midterm Elections, Barack Obama remains relatively popular in Washington state, especially in rich neighborhoods like King County (1, 5, 49, 64). This had important implications for Patty Murray’s candidacy; in the past, Democratic presidents and presidential nominees have helped Washingtonians running for office. This year was no different.

Strong Democrats tend to stay reliable over a long period of time, partisanship increases voter turnout, and it is easy to predict partisans voting for other partisans (7); these factors favored Murray in this race, given the increased emphasis on platforms in this election. Murray was helped by the mail-in ballot system. Washington’s deep blue heritage withstood the rest of the nation’s 2008 Democratic electorate switch to a Republican electorate in 2010 because of high voter turnout in the state.

The normal (albeit now weaker) tendency for lower status voters to be Democrats and upper to middle class voters to be Republicans doesn’t hold in Washington (1, 5, 49). Historically, Washington’s “political strength [was] built on…[a]…blue-collar base, augmented by the respect big business had for their clout” (1); nowadays, the electorate has shifted from blue collar to white collar in favor of the Democrats. Washington is a Democratic stronghold: the governor and both incumbent senators are female Democrats, the party holds six out of nine House seats, and four different Democrats have been governor since 1984 (1). For the most part, the upscale suburbs and central parts of Seattle are largely Democratic, while the older, blue-collar lumber country in the arid region east of the Cascade Mountains is largely Republican (1, 5). In short, there is an ongoing generational replacement process for party identification that favors the more progressive of the two parties (7).

Washington has a large minority population (almost a 4% increase from 1999 to 2000) that rarely votes in elections (62). This differentiates it from other states because this population is typically settled in King County and near major cities, and it tends to be young and unmarried (62, 81). Even though Asian Americans – a group that consists of several different minorities – makes up a hefty 2% of the state’s population, more attention was paid to Hispanic and black voters in the election. Rossi didn’t do himself any favors with the Asian American or Hispanic demographics with his no-tolerance policy on immigration, complaining that the DREAM Act isn’t necessary and that he hasn’t been able to find college grants for his kids because, according to him, “he makes too much money” (29, 44).

His high name recognition was also something of a liability, because he was far from a fresh face by the time he ran in 2010. Many voters remembered that he had lost two of the three races he ran previously. Even more telling was his lack of aggression and strategic planning; he played defense for much of the race, relying on Murray to set the tone of the debate and refusing to take hard stances on issues (22, 85). Though Rossi portrayed Murray as “fiscally reckless,” “…the center of partisanship in…D.C.,” and a proponent of “killing jobs” with tax increases, he seemed to invest his energies in defense when he should’ve been more aggressive in his approach (6, 13, 17, 29, 44, 75, 78, 85). He simply was not effective in curtailing her advances. In only one-fifteenth of his advertisements he presented his plan for “change” (85); the rest either attempted to refute Murray or talk about how he drank powdered milk as a child and waxed floors to pay for college – a message voters were familiar with given his gubernatorial campaigns. Even worse is when he tried to unreasonably attack her. For example, in one video titled Boeing, Boeing, Gone he blamed Senator Murray for Boeing’s setting up a 787 assembly plant in South Carolina and for moving its headquarters to Chicago, implying that she should have prevented those acts, as if it was in her control (85). Another instance of this is in Over the Top, Part of the Problem, and She Changed where he personally blamed Murray for the doubling the debt – exaggerating her role in increasing the deficit and conveniently forgetting to include that the same charge could be leveled against the GOP (86).

As negative as the Murray ads were, they appear to have been unusually effective in soliciting response amongst the electorate and news media. Her genius move to recycle graphics, content, and narration from advertisements used in Rossi’s failed earlier campaigns helped voters associate his historical failure with the 2010 election (32, 39, 57, 80). Other, falser claims she made elsewhere are less laudable. For one, she pulled several Rossi quotes out of context in one particular ad, titled “Boeing”. In the ad, when a questioner in a debate asked Rossi whether a WTO ruling should have a factor in a tanker bid – without specifying whether it was for or against Airbus – Rossi responded with, “no,” that it shouldn’t be a reason to deny a contract to Boeing. The Murray campaign thought otherwise and issued a statement that said illegal, job killing WTO subsides given to Airbus shouldn’t be taken into account when awarding the next Air Force tanker contract (86). The media slammed Murray, calling it “dishonest” and “preposterous” (32, 39, 80).

Murray also issued other misleading claims maintaining that Rossi voted to cut unemployment for laid-off workers, authored a budget that cut 40,000 Washington kids off healthcare, supported cutting the minimum wage by $1.50 an hour, would support “tax loopholes for corporations that send jobs overseas”, wants to repeal the financial regulation bill, supports Airbus over Boeing, and doesn’t support a level playing field in the bid for the contract (39). These helped position her to portray Rossi as too conservative, especially on women’s issues, sleazy in his business dealings, and pro-Wall Street simply because he invested in a small local bank. When asked a question about the negative ads on her end, she was quick to point out that the Citizens United ruling was unethical (7, 17, 29). In the end, she attacked each of his strongholds strategically and effectively: she held a rally near the UW campus, worked with Organizing for America to mobilize left-leaning student voters, and created several advertisements that displayed her commitment to eastern Washington (44).

By Election Day, the total outside, independent spending in this election was eighth nationwide for money both raised and spent, at $22,678,677 and $19,175,664, respectively (35, 40, 42, 60). Rossi raised $7,365,098 and spent $4,331,414; Murray raised $15,313,579 and spent $14,844,250 (35, 40, 42, 60). The bulk of Rossi’s money (87%) came from individual contributions, with only 6% coming from PAC contributions (35, 40, 42, 60). Murray sucked up over $10,389,664 from individual contributions and $3,434,320 from PACs (35, 40, 42, 60). it is clear that this provided her a unique advantage: she was able to spend more on advertisements and make more appearances. Rossi spent very wisely; using a “beat up minivan” to traverse the state to speak with constituents and gather votes (43).

Anonymous spending by donors on “issue advocacy” was permitted by the Citizens United vs. FEC decision earlier this year, as long as the nonprofits in question did not coordinate with candidates (7). Both candidates courted evening network news outlets with special issue advertisements and sought out traditional contributions from individuals, political action committees, direct and coordinated parties, bundler dinners, and soft-lending (35, 40, 42, 60). Nonetheless, independent spending reigned supreme in their respective budgets (35, 40, 42, 60). Murray started out with a considerable spending advantage at $5.9 million, but Rossi was quick – but not quick enough, it seems – to court donors (35, 40, 42, 60).

Crossroads Grassroots Policy Strategies, the 501-c4 nonprofit arm of Karl Rove’s American Crossroads, spent over $3.6 million for advertising against Murray (35, 40, 42, 60). The National Republican Senatorial Committee poured $684,000 on anti-Murray ads and $125,000 on telephone messages, and the American Action Network – also a 501-c4 nonprofit – shelled out $1.3 million (35, 40, 42, 60). Despite Democratic calls for more transparency in campaign finance, Murray had no qualms with accepting $331,000 in the week of 15 October alone for television ads from Commonsense Ten, a liberal advocacy group, and $640,000 from the Citizens, Strength and Security Action Fund (35, 40, 42, 60).

Because of powerful anti-incumbent national forces, dichotomous variables, probits, and an unemployment rate higher than in previous years that may have increased unpredictability (7), it is unsurprising that Murray won. In the past, incumbents have won elections more often and by smaller margins due to gerrymandering and vanishing marginals, and they have effectively used their offices to spread the word, providing more services for their constituencies through earmarking (7). Murray had the voter contacts, franking privileges, necessary campaign spending and access, party support, interest group support, and ideology. Moreover, she held two trump cards: experience and visibility to increase the likelihood of winning the election, and the advantages of retrospective voting. Rossi was unable to garner the powerful national support necessary to constrict Murray. Given the highly competitive nature of this race, voters such as cell-phone only adults and hard-to-reach Asian Americans probably did make a big difference at the margins, but there is a limited supply of data on the subject. Overall, in an anti-incumbent year Rossi found himself too often on defense and without access to the advantages of capital and experience that Murray commanded.

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(55.) McDonald, Michael. 2008 General Election Turnout Rates. United States Elections Project. 23 Dec. 2009. George Mason University. 1 Dec. 2010.

(56.) McDonald, Michael. 2010 General Election Turnout Rates. United States Elections Project. 8 Nov. 2010. George Mason University. 1 Dec. 2010.

(57.) Myrick, Bryan. "Patty Murray’s Attack Ad Redux: Recycled Video May Raise Campaign Finance Questions." Red State. 23 Oct. 2010. 1 Dec. 2010.

(58.) O'Brien, Michael. "Obama jabs GOP candidate Rossi on Wall St. reform." Web log post. The Hill's Blog Briefing Room. 17 Aug. 2010. 1 Dec. 2010.

(59.) O’Brien, Michael. “Senate Republicans Bearish on Chances to Win Majority.” Web log post. The Hill’s Blog Briefing Room. 11 Nov. 2010. 1 Dec. 2010. <http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/126771-senate-republicans-bearish-on-chances-to-win-majority>.

(60.) OpenSecrets.org. "Washington Senate Race: 2010 Cycle." Open Secrets. Nov. 2010. 2 Nov. 2010.

(61.) "Political Smell Test: Blame Murray for debt? Blame everyone else too." The News Tribune. 29 Sept. 2010. 1 Dec. 2010.

(62.) "Population Estimates." Office of Financial Management. Sept. 2010. Washington state. 1 Dec. 2010.

(63.) Ramsey, Bruce. "Patty on Dino on Boeing." Ed Cetera. 27 Sept. 2010. The Seattle Times. 05 Dec. 2010.

(64.) RealClearPolitics. "President Obama Job Approval." RealClearPolitics. 1 Dec. 2010. 1 Dec. 2010.

(65.) RealClearPolitics. "Washington Senate 2010 Polls." RealClearPolitics. Nov. 2010. 1 Dec. 2010.

(66.) Sanders, Eli. "The GOP's most reluctant Senate candidate." 2010 Elections - Salon.com. 17 June 2010. 14 Oct. 2010

(67.) Schwartz, Gabriella. "Still close in Washington Senate race." CNN Political Ticker. 29 Oct. 2010. CNN. 31 Oct. 2010.

(68.) Silver, Nate. "Washington State: Polling's Bermuda Triangle?" Election Forecasts - FiveThirtyEight Blog - NYTimes.com. 13 Oct. 2010. The New York Times. 18 Oct. 2010.

(69.) Somnez, Felicia. "Dino Rossi backs repeal of Wall Street reform." The Fix: Political News and Analysis by Chris Cillizza. 27 July 2010. The Washington Post. 14 Oct. 2010.

(70.) Somnez, Felicia. "In Washington state, Patty Murray's incumbency cuts both ways." The Fix: Political News and Analysis by Chris Cillizza. 30 Sept. 2010. The Washington Post. 14 Oct. 2010.

(71.) The Spokesman Review. "Murray, Rossi move on to November in Senate race." The Spokesman Review. 17 Aug. 2010. 05 Dec. 2010.

(72.) The Spokesman Review. "Murray, Rossi move on to November in Senate race." The Spokesman-Review. 17 Aug. 2010. 05 Dec. 2010.

(73.) The Spokesman Review. "Obama's plan West Side trips for Murray campaign." The Spokesman Review. 12 Oct. 2010. 1 Dec. 2010.

(74.) The Spokesman Review. "Rossi counting on anger with status quo, Murray." The Spokesman Review. 12 Oct. 2010. 1 Dec. 2010.

(75.) The Spokesman Review. "U.S. Senate candidates, issues." The Spokesman Review. 18 July 2010. 1 Dec. 2010.

(76.) The Spokesman Review. "Washington U.S. Senate race." The Spokesman Review. 12 Oct. 2010. 1 Dec. 2010.

(77.) Staff and Writer Reports. "Didier wants commitments from Rossi: Ex-candidate calls for stand on taxes, abortion." The Spokesman Review. 21 Aug. 2010. 05 Dec. 2010.

(78.) Thomas, Linda. "No drama in Murray - Rossi debate." The News Chick with KIRO Radio's Linda Thomas. 15 Oct. 2010. MyNorthwest.com. 1 Dec. 2010.

(79.) Toeplitz, Shira and David Cantanese. "Washington, Alaska races not over." Politico. 04 Nov. 2010. 04 Nov. 2010.

(80.) "The Truth Behind Rossi/Murray Negative Ads." Election 2010 Coverage. KIMA Action News. Seattle, Washington. KIMA Action News Television. 1 Dec. 2010.

(81.) "Washington Senate 2010 County Results." CNN Election Center. 17 Nov. 2010. CNN. 1 Dec. 2010.

(82.) "Washington Senate Polls 2010." RealClearPolitics. Nov. 2010. 2 Nov. 2010.

(83.) "Washington Senate Exit Polls 2010." CNN Election Center. 5 Nov. 2010. CNN. 1 Dec. 2010.

(84.) Woodward, Curt. "WA Senate: Murray, Rossi race through final days." Washington Post. 31 Oct. 2010. 31 Oct. 2010.

(85.) YouTube. Collective Dino Rossi Advertisements:

YouTube. Bailing Out Everyone But Us. Dino Rossi. YouTube. 26 Nov. 2010.

YouTube. Boeing, Boeing, Gone Means False Murray Attack. Dino Rossi. YouTube. 26 Nov. 2010.

YouTube. Misery. Dino Rossi. YouTube. 26 Nov. 2010.

YouTube. Murray’s Mistakes #3. Dino Rossi. YouTube. 26 Nov. 2010.

YouTube. Murray’s Mistakes #11. Dino Rossi. YouTube. 26 Nov. 2010.

YouTube. Never Forgotten. Patty Murray. YouTube. 26 Nov. 2010.

YouTube. Over the Top. Dino Rossi. YouTube. 26 Nov. 2010.

YouTube. Part of the Problem. Dino Rossi. YouTube. 26 Nov. 2010 <http://www.youtube.com/user/DinoRossiWA#p/u/23/D_1TDR_Cddc>.

YouTube. Senator Murray’s Miracle Bill. Dino Rossi. YouTube. 26 Nov. 2010 <http://www.youtube.com/user/DinoRossiWA#p/u/22/oIwBI7c3UdQ>.

YouTube. She Changed. Dino Rossi. YouTube. 26 Nov. 2010.

YouTube. Which One? Dino Rossi. YouTube. 26 Nov. 2010 <http://www.youtube.com/user/DinoRossiWA#p/u/16/70xrGqW6XxE>.

YouTube. Who Wrote the Bill. Dino Rossi. YouTube. 26 Nov. 2010.

YouTube. Why I Am Running. Dino Rossi. YouTube. 26 Nov. 2010.

YouTube. Wisely. Dino Rossi. YouTube. 26 Nov. 2010 <http://www.youtube.com/user/DinoRossiWA#p/u/28/V66tq1Rmdd4>.

YouTube. Yesterday. Dino Rossi. YouTube. 26 Nov. 2010 <http://www.youtube.com/user/DinoRossiWA#p/u/26/nSN8y7OV5pI>.

(86.) YouTube. Collective Patty Murray Advertisements:

YouTube. Airbus. Patty Murray for Senate. YouTube. 26 Nov. 2010 <http://www.youtube.com/user/pattymurrayforsenate#p/u/19/OOHdN8sdnwc>.

YouTube. American Jobs. Patty Murray for Senate. YouTube. 26 Nov. 2010. <http://www.youtube.com/user/pattymurrayforsenate#p/u/32/PdhAgzERa5M>.

YouTube. Best Friends. Patty Murray for Senate. YouTube. 26 Nov. 2010. <http://www.youtube.com/user/pattymurrayforsenate#p/u/33/Jqmy4s7HAuM>.

YouTube. Boeing. Patty Murray for Senate. YouTube. 26 Nov. 2010. <http://www.youtube.com/user/pattymurrayforsenate#p/u/34/xyk3QLaX2nQ>.

YouTube. Compare. Patty Murray for Senate. YouTube. 26 Nov. 2010. <http://www.youtube.com/user/pattymurrayforsenate#p/u/16/-AQx8vD1i84>.

YouTube. Eighteen Years. Patty Murray for Senate. YouTube. 26 Nov. 2010. <http://www.youtube.com/user/pattymurrayforsenate#p/u/7/4wXv13PAt2E>.

YouTube. Fairchild. Patty Murray for Senate. YouTube. 26 Nov. 2010. <http://www.youtube.com/user/pattymurrayforsenate#p/u/17/WxAfMZiXHKg>.

YouTube. For Himself. Patty Murray for Senate. YouTube. 26 Nov. 2010. <http://www.youtube.com/user/pattymurrayforsenate#p/u/13/EI937YxR4Lo>.

YouTube. Gambling. Patty Murray for Senate. YouTube. 26 Nov. 2010. <http://www.youtube.com/user/pattymurrayforsenate#p/u/15/oQW9eGEo-z4>.

YouTube. Middle Class. Patty Murray for Senate. YouTube. 26 Nov. 2010. <http://www.youtube.com/user/pattymurrayforsenate#p/u/24/Zqm9F0_ELOE>.

YouTube. Never Forgotten. Patty Murray for Senate. YouTube. 26 Nov. 2010. <http://www.youtube.com/user/pattymurrayforsenate#p/u/35/dgJTkwodOUI>.

YouTube. No Wonder. Patty Murray for Senate. YouTube. 26 Nov. 2010. <http://www.youtube.com/user/pattymurrayforsenate#p/u/17/IeQLO1K62fg>.

YouTube. Repeal. Patty Murray for Senate. YouTube. 26 Nov. 2010. <http://www.youtube.com/user/pattymurrayforsenate#p/u/27/XFGvsa9nBuc>.

YouTube. Southwest Washington. Patty Murray for Senate. YouTube. 26 Nov. 2010. <http://www.youtube.com/user/pattymurrayforsenate#p/u/12/irBupQUeYh4>.

YouTube. Together We Can Win. Patty Murray for Senate. YouTube. 26 Nov. 2010. <http://www.youtube.com/user/pattymurrayforsenate#p/u/25/GYwSa35Geng>.

YouTube. Trust. Patty Murray for Senate. YouTube. 26 Nov. 2010. <http://www.youtube.com/user/pattymurrayforsenate#p/u/12/vrUd9rUe3M4>.

YouTube. Wenatchee. Patty Murray for Senate. YouTube. 26 Nov. 2010. <http://www.youtube.com/user/pattymurrayforsenate#p/u/29/kU7C_PnCYkk>.

YouTube. Your Voice. Patty Murray for Senate. YouTube. 26 Nov. 2010. <http://www.youtube.com/user/pattymurrayforsenate#p/u/8/ZfSgaBEqEag>.