Edward Bernard Patrick Murray (born May 2, 1955) is an American politician from the state of
Washington
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the federal government of the United States
** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
who most recently served as the
53rd mayor of
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region o ...
from 2014 to 2017. A
Democrat, he was previously a state legislator, first with the
Washington State House of Representatives from 1996 to 2007, then the
Washington State Senate
The Washington State Senate is the upper house of the Washington State Legislature. The body consists of 49 members, each representing a district with a population of nearly 160,000. The State Senate meets at the Legislative Building in Olymp ...
from 2007 to 2013.
In 2017, Murray faced multiple allegations of child abuse, rape and sexual molestation, including some from family members and children under his care. He denies the allegations. Murray resigned as mayor of Seattle on September 12, 2017.
Early life and education
Murray was born in
Aberdeen, Washington
Aberdeen () is a city in Grays Harbor County, Washington, United States. The population was 17,013 at the 2020 census. The city is the economic center of Grays Harbor County, bordering the cities of Hoquiam and Cosmopolis. Aberdeen is occasi ...
, to an
Irish Catholic
Irish Catholics are an ethnoreligious group native to Ireland whose members are both Catholic and Irish. They have a large diaspora, which includes over 36 million American citizens and over 14 million British citizens (a quarter of the Briti ...
family, and is one of seven siblings in his family. He spent much of his childhood in West Seattle's Alki neighborhood, but attended high school at
Timberline High School in
Lacey
Lacey may refer to:
People Surname A–L
* Andrew Lacey (1887–1946), Australian politician
* Bill Lacey (American football) (born 1971), American football player and coach
* Bill Lacey (footballer) (1889–1969), Irish footballer
* Bob Lacey ( ...
, where he served as student body president.
[2013 Seattle mayoral race: Ed Murray](_blank)
''Seattle Times''.
Murray graduated from the
University of Portland in 1980; he majored in
sociology
Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of empirical investigation an ...
.
[Chris Kardish]
Ed Murray: One of America's Most Progressive Mayors
''Governing'' (August 2015).
Political career
Murray began his career doing pretrial work for public defenders in
Portland. He then returned to Seattle, becoming a
paralegal
A paralegal, also known as a legal assistant, or paralegal specialist is a professional who performs tasks that require knowledge of legal concepts but not the full expertise of a lawyer with a license to practice law. The market for paralegals i ...
, and quickly became active in local politics there.
He was
campaign manager
{{Political campaigning
A campaign manager, campaign chairman, or campaign director is a paid or volunteer individual whose role is to coordinate a political campaign's operations such as fundraising, advertising, polling, getting out the vo ...
for
Cal Anderson, the first openly gay legislator in Washington state, in 1988 before becoming an assistant to City Councilmember
Martha Choe.
Murray later managed a nonprofit focused on
gay rights
Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality.
Notably, , ...
.
Early start
In 1995, Murray, a
Democrat, ran to fill the state Senate seat left vacant by the death of Anderson, his mentor. Murray was defeated by state Representative
Pat Thibaudeau, but was then appointed to fill Thibaudeau's vacant state House seat in the 43rd Legislative District. He was reelected biennially until 2006, when he opted not to run for reelection to the House. The 43rd district, entirely within Seattle, includes the
University District,
Montlake,
Eastlake, and
Capitol Hill
Capitol Hill, in addition to being a metonym for the United States Congress, is the largest historic residential neighborhood in Washington, D.C., stretching easterly in front of the United States Capitol along wide avenues. It is one of the ...
neighborhoods. The district is very
progressive and reliably Democratic.
In 2006, Murray announced his intention to challenge Thibaudeau for the 43rd District seat in the
State Senate. In May 2006, Thibaudeau dropped out and Murray was elected to the Senate with little opposition. He took his senate seat in January 2007. In his first session in the senate (2007–08), he was appointed vice chair of the majority caucus and in the 2009–10 session, he served as caucus chair, a post that largely is in charge of budget for the Senate and other housekeeping matters. After being reelected unopposed in 2010, Murray was appointed chair of the Ways & Means Committee for 2011–12.
Murray previously served as chair of the House Transportation Committee. He was also active in advancing
LGBT
' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity.
The LGBT term ...
rights. He led the push for an anti-discrimination law barring businesses from discriminating against gays and lesbians, a measure that finally passed in 2006 after three decades of debate. He was also the main sponsor of legislation creating
domestic partnerships
A domestic partnership is a legal relationship, usually between couples, who live together and share a common domestic life, but are not married (to each other or to anyone else). People in domestic partnerships receive benefits that guarantee ...
, approved in 2007.
In 2009, Murray was the prime sponsor of a $2.4 billion Washington Senate financing bill authorizing the construction of a deep-bore tunnel underneath Seattle to replace the
Alaskan Way Viaduct.
SB 5768. Murray advocated for the project, which attracted well-documented concerns.
Bertha, the machine drilling the deep-bore tunnel, broke down in December 2013, leading to costly delays and significant challenges such as destabilizing soil conditions under Seattle's historic
Pioneer Square, Seattle, Pioneer Square and the Viaduct itself.
As of mid-2018, cost overruns on the tunnel project exceed $600 million.
Mayoral career
Murray was elected mayor of Seattle in
2013
File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...
. He ran for
reelection in 2017, but ended his campaign on May 9 amid allegations of child sexual abuse. On September 12, 2017, amid more sexual abuse claims, Murray announced his resignation effective the next day.
Personal life
Murray is of
Irish descent.
He is gay, and
came out
Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBT people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity.
Framed and debated as a privacy issue, coming out of ...
in 1980.
In 2013, he married Michael Shiosaki at
St. Mark's in Seattle; the two had been in a relationship for 22 years. Murray did not emphasize his sexual orientation during his career, describing himself as "a Democrat who happens to be gay."
During his campaign for the Senate, as in many of his previous campaigns, he won the backing of the
Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund
The LGBTQ Victory Fund (formerly the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund), commonly shortened to Victory Fund, is an American political action committee dedicated to increasing the number of openly LGBTQ public officials in the United States. Victory F ...
.
Child sexual abuse allegations
Five people have accused Murray of sexual abuse.
In April 2017, a lawsuit claimed that he "raped and molested" a teenager in 1986, paying cash for sex to a high-school dropout addicted to crack cocaine. Two other men made similar allegations in 2007, including a foster son who said Murray sexually assaulted him in 1984 while he was a teenager. He had spoken with a child welfare investigator and detective at the time, and persuaded the investigator that Murray had sexually abused him, but no charges were filed.
Through a spokesman, Murray denied the allegations, describing them as falsehoods intended to prevent his reelection. Later, Murray's lawyer said that Murray had undergone a medical examination that disproved a claim about his genitals, arguing the lawsuit should be dropped.
On September 12, 2017, Murray's cousin accused him of sexual abuse when the two teens shared a bedroom in the mid-1970s. Later that day, Murray denied the new allegation, and announced his resignation, effective the next day.
After his resignation,
Amnesty International
Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and s ...
asked the
Police Service of Northern Ireland
The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI; ga, Seirbhís Póilíneachta Thuaisceart Éireann; Ulster-Scots: ')
is the police force that serves Northern Ireland. It is the successor to the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) after it was reform ...
to open an investigation into Murray's 1974 trip to
Belfast
Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...
and
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...
, which involved chaperoning 30 Catholic and Protestant children.
References
External links
Senate homepage
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Murray, Ed
1955 births
American people of Irish descent
Gay politicians
Living people
LGBT Roman Catholics
LGBT mayors of places in the United States
LGBT state legislators in Washington (state)
Democratic Party members of the Washington House of Representatives
Democratic Party Washington (state) state senators
Mayors of Seattle
University of Portland alumni
21st-century American politicians
People from Aberdeen, Washington
Catholics from Washington (state)
20th-century American politicians
Timberline High School (Lacey, Washington) alumni