Biography

Patty Murray was born on October 11, 1950 in Seattle, Washington, USA. She has been married to Rob Murray since 1972. They have two children.

United States senator (D-Washington), 1993-present.

Member of the 2011 Debt Super Committee (i.e. Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction).

After Democrats kept control of the U.S. Senate in the 2022 elections, Murray was elected president pro tempore, the second-highest-ranking official of the body after the vice president, and third in the line of presidential succession. She is also the first woman to hold the position. The position is traditionally filled by the most senior senator of the majority party, who would be Dianne Feinstein at the start of Congress in 2023, but Feinstein declined the position. Feinstein died on September 29, 2023, upon which Murray became the most senior Democrat.

In 2023, when she became the first female president pro tempore of the U.S. Senate, it now leaves President of the United States as the last of the original government offices formed in 1789 to never have a female officeholder.

With her becoming the first female President Pro Tempore of the Senate, it also leaves Secretary of Defense and Secretary of Veterans Affairs the only positions in the Presidential line-of-succession to never have had a female officeholder.

We've got to ask, why is this man (Osama bin Laden) so popular around the world? Why are people so supportive of him in many countries that are riddled with poverty? He's been out in these countries for decades, building schools, building roads, building infrastructure, building day care facilities, building health care facilities, and the people are extremely grateful. He's made their lives better. We haven't done that. [Speech, December 2002]