lawsuits regarding alleged privacy violations were settled out of court. This incident has shaped her views on privacy and her opposition to the Bush administration's post-9/11 policies. U.S. Senate (2001–present) Elections 2000 At the urging of party activists and officials, Cantwell formed an exploratory committee in October 1999 to consider a run for U.S. Senate against Democrat Insurance Commissioner Deborah Senn and incumbent Republican Senator Slade Gorton. She committed to the race on January 19, 2000. Cantwell entered the campaign a year after Senn, who was endorsed by the Washington State Labor Council and NARAL, and used her personal wealth to fund television advertisements. Early on, privacy became an issue; Senn cited her record protecting medical privacy as insurance commissioner, while Cantwell promoted internet privacy and cited her opposition to the Clipper chip. Senn later used television advertisements to accuse Cantwell of avoiding debates, as she had agreed to two debates while Senn preferred more. They participated in three debates, during which they attacked each other. Senn attacked RealNetworks and Cantwell's role in the company; Cantwell accused Senn of wanting to run against RealNetworks, and said that Senn was uninformed on internet issues. Cantwell was endorsed by The Seattle Times, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, The Spokesman-Review, and The News Tribune. She easily won her party's nomination, defeating Senn by a 3–1 margin in the primary. Although he won re-nomination, Gorton got fewer votes than Cantwell and Senn's combined total. Social security, prescription drugs, dams, gun control, and campaign finance reform were among the most important issues in Cantwell's race against Gorton, which drew national attention. Cantwell also adopted the slogan "Your voice for a change", a veiled reference to Gorton's campaign theme in 1980, challenging incumbent Warren Magnuson's age. She said Gorton supported "19th-century solutions to 21st-century problems". Cantwell was endorsed by The Seattle Times and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, the state's two biggest newspapers. Gorton was endorsed by the smaller News Tribune and two of the largest Eastern Washington newspapers, The Spokesman-Review and Tri-City Herald. At times, the campaign was accused of pettiness as national PACs and groups funded television attack advertisements. After a Cantwell campaign worker deep-linked to a humorous photo on Gorton's website, he accused Cantwell's campaign of hacking, and Senn accused Cantwell of hypocrisy. "Fiddling with people's websites and calling it good fun ... adds a very childish and unworthy character to the race", Senn's campaign spokeswoman Barbara