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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

State Senator

Election Results

Candidate Votes Pct
Michael Baumgartner (R) 31,765 53.81%
Chris Marr (D) 27,263 46.19%

* Race percentages are calculated with data from the Secretary of State's Office, which omits write-in votes from its calculations when there are too few to affect the outcome. The Spokane County Auditor's Office may have slightly different percentages than are reflected here because its figures include any write-in votes.

The Candidates

Michael Baumgartner

Party:
Republican
Age:
48
City:
Spokane, WA

Education: Graduated from Pullman High School in 1995, after attending Gonzaga Prep for two years. Graduated from Washington State University in 1999 with a bachelor’s degree in economics. Graduated from Harvard University in 2002 with a master’s degree in public administration.

Work experience: Worked for office of the Crown Prince of Dubai as economic development adviser for about a year starting in June 2002. Worked two years starting in the spring of 2003 for i4, a company that hoped to build a telecommunication network in Saudi Arabia. Worked as Dubai-based business consultant for about a year. Worked as consultant for Hecla Mining related to gold mine in Venezuela for several months in 2006. Worked as economics officer for the U.S. State Department in Iraq for about a year starting in spring 2007. Worked for Civilian Police International, a State Department contractor, in Afghanistan on a counter-narcotics program for about eight months starting in December 2008. Provided pre-deployment advisory to U.S. military on counterinsurgency. Lecturer on counterinsurgency at Sciences Po University in Paris.

Political experience: Elected to state Senate in 2010, unseating Democratic incumbent Chris Marr. Unsuccessfully challenged Democratic U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell in 2012. Previously served as vice chairman of Senate Ways and Means Committee and chairman of Commerce and Labor committee.

Family: Married. Has four children.

 

 

Chris Marr

Party:
Democrat

Complete Coverage

Marr on state Liquor Board

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Note on caucus membership lists

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Marr ethics complaint dismissed

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Voters vent frustrations with GOP gains in county, state

Democrat Chris Marr conceded defeat Wednesday night in the record-breaking million-dollar battle for a Spokane County state Senate seat. Marr made up some ground in the second day of ballot counting against Republican Michael Baumgartner, but he said it was too little to make a difference.

Marr concedes to Baumgartner

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Mapping the Vote: 6th District Senate race

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Voters favor Republicans locally and nationally

Washington Republicans were lifted by a national tide in Tuesday’s elections, one that cost Democrats at least one of the state’s congressional seats and left a key U.S. Senate seat in doubt. Early returns indicate the tide will carry more Republicans into the still solidly Democratic-controlled Legislature in Olympia, and to the already Republican-dominated courthouse in Spokane. Because Washington votes will continue to arrive in the mail for more than a week, close races might not be decided until right before Thanksgiving.

Chris Marr speaks to Democrats

State Sen. Chris Marr addresses Democrats at the Lincoln Center on Tuesday night, Nov. 2, 2010.

Michael Baumgartner at GOP party

Michael Baumgartner celebrates with supporters at the Spokane County Republic Party’s election night event at the Davenport Hotel on Tuesday night, Nov. 2, 2010. Baumgartner was leading state Sen. Chris Marr in early returns.

Chris Marr on second ballot count

State Sen. Chris Marr, a Democrat trailing challenger Michael Baumgartner, talks about the second drop of results Tuesday night, Nov. 2, 2010.

Rally’s message in Riverfront Park: Keep sanity alive

After being bombarded by political attack ads from both sides in one of the most contentious elections in years, some Spokane-area residents are fed up with all the “insanity.” Some 200 people gathered at noon Saturday at the Riverfront Park Floating Stage for the Rally to Restore Sanity, Spokane’s version of Jon Stewart’s Washington, D.C., rally. The event, held just three days before Tuesday’s election, was organized by Spokane Democrats. It combined comedy acts and political pep talks to send a message: Be reasonable. Take things down a notch.

Truths, half-truths and other campaign claims

More than a million dollars has been spent fighting for one Spokane seat in the state Senate – and the election season isn’t even over. The milestone was reached this week in the 6th Legislative District fight between incumbent Democratic Sen. Chris Marr and Republican challenger Michael Baumgartner, according to records from the state Public Disclosure Commission.

Vestal: All the mud a million bucks can sling

Chris Marr really opposes negative ads. He says he’s been the victim of “hit pieces” by his opponent. He says that his political campaign for the state Senate ought to be about the issues. “The public deserves better than what we’ve seen so far,” Marr said in a KSPS debate not long ago.

Democratic strategist faces sanctions

A Democratic political strategist active in shadowy independent ads in a Spokane legislative campaign faces court sanctions for campaign violations in an Everett primary race. Lisa MacLean’s tactics to hide who was contributing to efforts to sway the 38th District state Senate primary were so “reprehensible” that the election may have to be overturned, the Public Disclosure Commission said Thursday. It voted 3-0 to refer the case to Attorney General Rob McKenna.

PDC asks AG to take Dem strategist to court

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Baumgartner and Marr: Police ombudsmen

Washington state Sen. Chris Marr, a Democrat, and his Republican challenger Michael Baumgartner answer the question, “Should state law be changed to allow cities to fire fully independent police ombudsmen without seeking approval from police unions?”