BUCK: Wanted to share this one with you. New York Times: “Patty Murray Faces Stiff Challenge in Senate Reelection Race — The five-term Washington senator is concerned about complacency among Democratic voters, who have come to regard her as a fixture who will always be there.” Five times! Thirty years in the Senate, folks. “She faces a Republican newcomer, Tiffany Smiley,” and, Clay, I love it. The first person they ask about… (laughing) about support for Patty Murray is a self-described socialist! Of course, no surprise in Washington. But I think we have… Oh, yes, we have. Tiffany Smiley with us now. Tiffany, thanks for calling in.
SMILEY: Yeah, thanks for having me on! I really appreciate it.
BUCK: So, it is days away. The New York Times is worried. Clay and I and all of our friends across the country just want to hear about why they should be so worried about this election. What it’s looking like right now, days away.
SMILEY: Yeah. I mean, they should be worried. Senator Murray has failed Washington State at every turn. And we truly have a message of hope, how we can turn crises into hope and deliver results for all of Washington. I’ve been in all 39 counties. I’ve listened to thousands of voters. And, you know, I’m on my statewide tour again and my New Mom in Town bus and we’re meeting voters on the ground. Hundreds and hundreds of people are coming to our event. They’re ready for change.
These aren’t Democrat or Republican issues. They’re American issues. It’s about delivering results. And I think, you know, even our debate, our town hall, the choice, the contrast could not be clearer. Do you want someone who will go work for you or do you want that same old get along to go along, do nothing? Patty Murray has only been able to get nine bills across the line in 30 years. Washingtonians are waking up every day and they’re ready for change.
CLAY: Tiffany, we had Christine Drazan on yesterday. She’s obviously just beneath you there in the Pacific Northwest, and she is going to, I believe, win the governorship of Oregon for the first time in 40 years.
SMILEY: Yeah.
CLAY: You are similarly! And we talked with her. We said, you know, initially, people kind of just don’t really take you very seriously. There’s legitimate polls out there now that show you tied even with Patty Murray with six days to go. How has the Democrat response changed to you? As Buck mentioned, the New York Times is now writing about your candidacy. We saw the same thing happen with Christine. What is it like for you to suddenly be taken seriously when you’ve been working as hard as you can for months, if not years, to get to this position?
SMILEY: Yeah. (laughs) Yeah. You know, I’ve been at this for a year and a half, and when I got into this, I didn’t need polling to know that I had a shot or there was a pathway to victory. I didn’t need billion-dollar backers behind me to know this was the right thing to do. I did this because it was the right thing to do. I was born and raised here in Washington State. I love this state. And I knew just like other times in my life — you know, when my husband was blinded by a suicide car bomb.
I knew the power of building from the ground up, building bridges and building coalitions. We’ve coalesced the people of Washington State over the last 18 months, and so we’re going to continue to fight all the way through victory. We’re not going to stop. I still have multiple towns that I’m visiting all across Washington State and sharing our message our vision of hope. I’ve just been laser focused on delivering results and providing an option to the great people of Washington State, an option that will bring hard work and dedication.
I think it’s clear Washington State does not need seniority. We need motivation and principle. I tell every room, “When you send me to Washington, D.C., that’s what I will bring to the halls of Congress.” So I’m in this for our country. I’m in this for my children, for your children, for grandchildren for generations to come. This never was about, you know, whether the polling was good or not. I knew that I was willing to do the work, build the bridges, and we will win this race and we will send a shock wave from Washington State all the way to Washington, D.C., as time to get our country in this great state back on track.
BUCK: We’re speaking to Tiffany Smiley. She is running a fantastic campaign for Senate up in Washington State for anyone who’s joining us now. Tiffany, Clay brought all up yesterday and some different races that was pretty mind-blowing. He asked me how much money had been spent on the candidacies of Stacey Abrams — Democrat running in Georgia, who’s going to lose by a lot — and Beto O’Rourke, Democrat in Texas? It’s $150 million spent on those two incredibly unsuccessful campaigns.
SMILEY: Wow.
BUCK: What kind of money are they throwing at you? I’ve got to assume… I mean, The New York Times is putting up the S.O.S. signal right now.
SMILEY: The all call, yeah! (laughing)
BUCK: They must be throwing all kinds of stuff at you. What’s going on?
SMILEY: Yeah. (laughs) Yes. I mean, Patty Murray is getting more and more and more money every day. But it’s clear that we’re winning. Each day, our team, we’re lean, we’re mean, we’re fighting. We’re here for the people, and we’re winning every single day from the messaging war to fundraising. So, we’re not —
BUCK: Do you have a lot of moms, by the way —
SMILEY: I do.
BUCK: — who admit to you, Tiffany, that they have voted Democrat in the past and now they’re coming over to your side, too?
SMILEY: Yes, I do. Absolutely, and especially the crime issue here in Washington State. I was in Seattle a couple of Saturdays ago speaking to the room there, Democrats and independents in the room. And they said, “We’ve never felt more unsafe in our communities. And you know, we have our PattyVsPublicSafety.com. Anyone can go to it and see Patty Murray soft-on-crime policies that have destroyed our beautiful city all in Seattle and all across Washington State.
So, as far as like, you know, funding, I’m honored and we’ve heavy lifted Washington State because I’m funded by the people of Washington State. You know, over a year ago, people started paying attention because of the amount of money that we’re raising. It was the people of Washington State that have led this, and me and Patty Murray fundraising couldn’t look more different. I’m honored to be funded by the people of Washington State. This is a Washington State-up campaign, and that’s exactly why we are picking up and catching the momentum.
CLAY: I’m fascinated by this question too, Tiffany. You’re a mom and we’ve been talking to a lot of Republican moms. We had the moment down in the Colorado debate where Heidi Ganahl leaned into (summarized), “Yeah, I’m a ‘mad mom’” over schools being shut down, over crime, over all these different things that are infuriating, I think, to moms and dads. But, as a mom on the campaign trail, do you have to sit down with your kids at some point and say, “Hey, they’re going to say a lot of crazy things about mom,” and, if so, what are those conversations like for your kids who I imagine are now seeing you in a different light over the course of this last year-and-half campaign?
SMILEY: Yeah. You know, our kids have always been involved in this campaign and this effort. I want them, you know, we always teach them, when you have the opportunity to do something that’s right that you always do it and you stand up and do it with your heart, your soul and everything that you have. And so they are seeing our family once again stand up and serve just a different type of service, you know, different than what their father did. But obviously, we are continuing to share our message.
And, you know, our kids are very resilient. They are three amazing little boys who had to learn why their father is blind. And we had to describe to them, you know, at a young age — Scotty has never seen their faces; they were all born after Scotty was blind — that another human being tried to kill their father instead of killing their father, he took his life and all three of them cried and were hurt that another human being would be so evil. So their perspective on life is much different.
Our military kids are extremely resilient, and so actually I have my youngest on the campaign trail with me going to different stops and we bring them along with us and, you know, I want them to know that freedom of speech is a thing. But when you know your “why,” when you’ve got conviction and your standing up and doing what’s right, that you always just deliver that message. So our boys… You know, it was cute the other night I got home late, and I kissed Baylor, my youngest, and he said, “You’re probably going to leave in the morning huh, mom?” And I said, “Yes, I am,” and he just looked at me and said, “You better win.” (laughing) So, they certainly know what we’re fighting for and what we’re doing across Washington State, and I love bringing them along with me and showing them, you know, just what leadership is and serving others.
CLAY: Well, Tiffany, you —
BUCK: Well, we’re with your son on that.
CLAY: Yeah, you’d better get in line. I’ve got three boys myself, and so I saw your closing campaign ad with your husband and yourself sitting speaking directly to the camera.
SMILEY: Yeah.
CLAY: It was incredibly powerful for people who have not seen that ad.
SMILEY: Thank you.
CLAY: Maybe we’ll put it up on ClayAndBuck.com so they can see it. But whose idea was that, how did it come together, and what has the response been to you and your husband sitting there directly? As you said, your husband, blinded during his service for the country.
SMILEY: Yeah.
CLAY: Directly addressing the camera, it’s really powerful for a lot of people.
SMILEY: Yeah. No, thank you. We wanted to close together because we’re doing this together. You know, when we talked about getting into this race, I had some reservations. We had finally just settled down. We weren’t moving with the military. Me and Scotty have built a beautiful life. Blood, sweat and tears. It was worth it. All of it. And it was Scotty who said, “Tiffany, there’s one person who can beat Patty Murray in Washington State — and I hate to tell you, honey, but it’s you.”
And he said, “You know, you kicked me out of that hospital bed and you believed in something better for me and believed that I still had purpose,” and he said, “Go do that from Washington.” So it’s always about our whole family in this journey, and so we knew we wanted to close it together and just really get to the heart of why we are doing this. We are doing this because we love this country. Scotty has sacrificed greatly for this country. Like I mentioned, he’s never seen our children’s faces, and so we wanted to close it together and just share our heart. We’re in this because we want to leave our children an America that is worth giving their eyesight for, and there is not six more years of Patty Murray. Yeah.
BUCK: Tiffany, for the people listening including on 1090 The Patriot KPTR in the Seattle area and all across the state of Washington, if they want to help out in these final critical days —
SMILEY: Yes.
BUCK: — for your winnable but still very much neck-and-neck race. Where should they go?
SMILEY: Yes. SmileyForWashington.com. That’s SmileyForWashington.com. You can find our stops that we’re still continuing to do all over Washington State all the way through Tuesday. So, join us at an event. You can donate there, but, most importantly, you need to go vote. I need you. We will win this race, but it will take each and every one of us. So, make sure you’re voting — and not just you this year, but get 10, 20, 30 more people. Get your family, 50 people, if you’re really ambitious, to get out and vote. Smiley for a brighter future for all of Washington State.
BUCK: Tiffany Smiley, doing a great job.
SMILEY: Thank you.
BUCK: We’re hoping you’re going to be celebrating, maybe come back on air when you do, okay?
SMILEY: Yes. Absolutely. Thank you, guys. I appreciate you.
BUCK: Thanks so much.