[3] From 2009 to 2010, Purcell served in the United States Department of Homeland Security, where he worked to challenge Arizona's immigration law implemented during the administration of Jan Brewer.

[4] Prior to his appointment to the office of the Solicitor General, he was an associate at Seattle law firm Perkins Coie, where he worked on appellate matters.

[9][10][11] After the successful halt of President Trump's first travel ban,[12][13] Ferguson, Purcell and Robart were named one of the most influential Seattleites of 2017 by Seattle Magazine.

[14] Purcell has spoken about how the travel ban had a personal impact on his family because his wife is the daughter of Iranian immigrants who fled their country in the 1970s.

After failing to gain traction in the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries, Jay Inslee announced he would seek re-election in the 2020 Washington gubernatorial election.