The latest polls show the Senate race in Washington State a dead heat — and 30-year Democratic Sen. Patty Murray locked in a sure-to-decided-late bout with Republican newcomer Tiffany Smiley.
A Trafalgar Poll among likely Evergreen State voters that was completed in late October showed Murray at 49 percent and Smiley at 48 percent. An Insider Advantage poll released last week showed the two tied at 48 percent each.
Should Smiley emerge on top, her victory would mark the first time Washington State elected a Republican senator since the late Sen. Slade Gorton won his final re-election race in 1994, and left office in 2001.
Most Republicans who spoke to Newsmax were excited about Smiley and what is universally dubbed by supporters as “her story.” Smiley’s U.S. Army officer-husband Scotty was severely wounded in car bombing in Afghanistan. A nurse and caregiver by trade, Tiffany helped him recover and become the first blind officer on active duty in Army history.
Smiley’s upbeat attitude and positive campaigning have taken the political newcomer to within striking distance of the fourth-senior member of the Senate. Most recently, the GOP hopeful unveiled a hard-hitting TV spot showing her standing in front of an abandoned coffee shop that she says was closed “because it’s too dangerous to ask employees to work here anymore.”
“Thirty years in the Senate, and this is what [Murray] has to show for it?” says Smiley, pointing to the closed Seattle shop, “If she won’t do the job, I will.”
“If this is a ‘wave’ election, 45 to 47 percent [for Smiley] would be a moral victory.” Former State GOP Chairman Kirby Wilbur told Newsmax, “If it’s a tsunami, her election is very possible. Tiffany is the best statewide candidate in decades — very impressive, an incredible fund-raiser, and the grassroots love her and her incredible story.”
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.