SEATTLE — The 2022 midterm elections are just days away, and election spending is expected to break records. That could include Washington’s Senate race.
According to the Federal Election Commission, Senator Patty Murray and Tiffany Smiley are both in the top 25 of candidates spending the most money nationwide.
Senator Murray’s campaign spent $20,925,397.06 and Tiffany Smiley’s shelled out $14,796,438.17
Both candidates combined spent more than $35 million dollars. KING 5 political analyst and former Washington Attorney General Rob McKenna, a Republican, said that’s significant.
“It may not be a record but has to be close to the record amount spent on a statewide campaign in Washington state. It tells us a lot about how important this race is for Democrats and Republicans,” McKenna said.
The money spent by candidates doesn’t include spending from outside political groups often used for political ads. FEC records showed Murray had more outside spending.
“There’s more money being spent independently there for her. The fact that they have to pour that money in to defend her says a lot about Democratic prospects in this election generally,” said McKenna.
The contest for who will hold the senate seat is also drawing in major cash.
Sen. Murray raised $18,765,793.57 and Smiley brought in $16,519,954.12
According to the FEC, the top three donors for Smiley's campaign are from Virginia and D.C. Murray's top three donors are from Washington State.
KING 5 reached out to both campaigns for a statement on the amount of money raised and spent.
A Murray spokesperson said, "Voters should know that Tiffany Smiley is being bankrolled by the same extremists who helped fund the insurrection and are continuing to support election deniers all across the country. And Donald Trump's super PAC as well as Mitch McConnell are spending millions to help elect anti-abortion extremist Tiffany Smiley to the Senate. While Smiley will be a rubber stamp for Mitch McConnell, Patty Murray will always be accountable only to the voters of Washington state."
Elisa Carlson, communications director for Smiley’s campaign said, “Washington voters know that in Tiffany they have a leader who will fight for them and the issues they care about. They are energized and engaged which is reflected in both our fundraising numbers and the polls. For the past 18 months, Washingtonians have been voting with their dollars, and on Tuesday they will vote with their ballots.”
Since the primaries, the race has narrowed. In a poll of Washington voters, 49% of voters support Murray and 41% support Smiley.
“What we're seeing here is the overall trend of not just with these two candidates but about this election in general that Independents are breaking towards Republicans,” said McKenna.
As both candidates enter the final days of their campaigns it all comes down to who can turn out the votes.
When it comes to voter turnout, as of Friday King County Elections said it’s received 400,000 ballots, which is slightly lower than the turnout at this time during the 2018 midterms. For the 2018 election, King County had a 76% turnout and elections officials project a 72% turnout for the 2022 midterms.
McKenna doesn’t think it will stay that way. “It may be trending a little behind 2018 right now but voter intensity is at an all-time high. It’s really quite amazing.”