Washington's high-profile 45th District Senate race between Democrat Manka Dhingra and Republican Jinyoung Lee Englund has drawn the attention of former VP Joe Biden.

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OLYMPIA — Washington state’s high-profile state Senate race has drawn the attention of former Vice President Joe Biden.

Biden this week endorsed 45th District Democratic candidate Manka Dhingra.

Dhingra faces Republican Jinyoung Lee Englund in a race this November that likely will determine which party controls the state Senate.

A news release by the Washington Senate Democratic Campaign announcing the endorsement pointed out that both Dhingra, a prosecutor, and Biden have worked on domestic-violence issues.

“I especially appreciate her efforts to reduce domestic violence and sexual assault, protect victims of crime, and advocate for improved mental health programs,” Biden, who as a U.S. senator led the effort in 1994 to pass the Violence Against Women Act, said in the statement.

Biden, who stopped in Seattle earlier this year, didn’t visit the district for the endorsement, said Alex Bond of the Washington Senate Democratic Campaign.

But, “we’re hoping to do a video” with Biden, wrote Bond, the campaign’s political director.

The race for the district — which includes Woodinville and Duvall, as well as parts of Redmond, Kirkland and Sammamish — broke a spending record this week.

The two campaigns have spent a combined $2.4 million, not counting independent campaign expenditures.

That makes it the most expensive legislative race in state history, according to the state Public Disclosure Commission.

“With three weeks left to go before the Nov. 7 election, we expect this high-profile race will continue to attract national attention, leading to further record-breaking spending,” state Public Disclosure Commission Executive Director Peter Lavallee said in a news release.