Perseverance paid off again for Senator Dean Murray, who was reelected to a second term with 61.8% of the vote in a district where he has a long relationship with the voters.
The freshman senator came up through the Tea Party movement, playing a critical role in galvanizing residents against high taxes and a government heading in the wrong direction. He ran for the assembly and won, then set his sights on the senate, where he was defeated. Undaunted, he ran again and won, and now he’s heading back to Albany for another term.
The district voters know him; they didn’t just vote the Republican line, they voted for Dean Murray specifically. The district had an abundance of his signs displayed on lawns and street corners. His opponent, Michael Conroy, did not conduct a visible effort as if his party knew he didn’t stand a chance against the popular incumbent.
Based on many donations from small donors, Murray was able to meet the threshold for public campaign financing, funds he used to get his message across that he is against the disastrous cashless bail system of the Democrats and supports law enforcement; that he is against illegal immigration and boys in girls’ bathrooms, and he has a strategy to rein in government spending and curb inflation.
Murray is part of the Red Wall of Republican legislators from Long Island who keep the liberal Progressive Left in check. He helped beat back their attempt to usurp local zoning authority to build multi-family housing wherever they wanted. He stands against attempts by the sanctuary city of New York to relocate the illegal immigrants they invited in. And he will fight to make sure the suburbs get their fair share of education funds, particularly Foundation Aid for high-need districts, and money from the state environmental bond fund and the federal infrastructure bill.
Like President Trump, Murray came into government as a successful businessman and is attuned to the bottom line. If something is bad for the economic well-being of his constituents, you can count on him to fight it.