Patricia Lynn "Patty" Murray is the senior United States Senator from Washington and a member of the Democratic Party. Murray was first elected to the Senate in 1992, becoming Washington's first female senator. She was re-elected in 1998, 2004 and 2010. Murray has served as the Senate Majority Conference Secretary since 2007, making her the fourth-highest-ranking Democrat and the highest-ranking woman in the Senate. Chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee from 2001 to 2003, Murray assumed the role again in early 2011, for a term ending in 2013. She is also the Chairman of... the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs. On August 9, 2011, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid appointed Murray to co-chair the United States Congress Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction. One of seven children, Murray was born in Bothell, Washington, to Beverly A. and David L. Johns. Her mother was an accountant. Her father fought in World War II and was awarded a Purple Heart. She attended Saint Brendan Catholic School as a young child.
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