Patty saw the difference local government could make if it was more like the people and families it represents, which led her to serve on the Shoreline School Board, and in 1988, she was elected to the Washington State Senate.
In 1991, Patty watched the Anita Hill hearings along with the rest of the country where the fact that there were only two women in the entire U.S. Senate—and none on the Senate Judiciary Committee—was on full display. Patty decided to run for Senate in 1992 as a voice for Washington workers and families who were not being heard—especially women. Dramatically outspent, Patty ran a grassroots campaign of family, friends, supporters, and public interest groups to beat a 10-year veteran of the U.S. House of Representatives and win the Senate seat. Patty was re-elected in 1998, 2004, 2010, 2016 and 2022.
