‘Never Trump’ GOP moderate Chris Vance wages low-budget challenge to Patty Murray

Republican Chris Vance is betting voters are fed up with partisan gridlock in Congress. But it remains to be seen if Washington state voters will buy his arguments against Democratic Sen. Patty Murray, who has worked across the aisle on high-profile issues.

In an election that’s given us presidential candidates bragging about the size of their hands, Chris Vance wants to talk about compromise, more specifically Simpson-Bowles, which is not a virus or scandal, but a dusty bipartisan plan to reduce national debt.

Vance, a Republican challenging incumbent U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, has made the $19?trillion debt the top priority of his low-budget, “pissed-off moderate” campaign that’s heavy on issue papers and attacks on “hyperpartisan gridlock.”

A former chairman of the state Republican Party, Vance contends Murray, a four-term Democrat, is the kind of entrenched politician responsible for congressional dysfunction and gridlock.

Read more: http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/gop-moderate-vance-waging-low-budget-challenge-to-murray/