Ricky Rafferty is a fictional Democratic U.S. senator from an unknown state, played by Mel Harris . She is a recurring character on the American television show The West Wing.

Starting late, Senator Rafferty entered the race for her party's presidential nomination during the 2006 election after both the Iowa caucus and the New Hampshire primary had already been held. She ran as an unabashed liberal and made the main plank of her campaign a single-payer universal health care system that had been originally intended for the platform of President Josiah Bartlet when he first ran in 1998. It was later revealed that the plan, which had never been made public during Bartlet's campaign, had been given to Rafferty by Toby Ziegler, the White House's Director of Communications.

Although it was never explicitly stated, it appears that Senator Rafferty began her campaign a few days after the New Hampshire primary and ended it some time before Super Tuesday, having failed to win any primaries. It is not known whether or not she endorsed any other candidate's run in the remaining primaries.

See also

• The West Wing
• Characters on The West Wing
• List of The West Wing episodes