Erik Murray is one of 11 Democrats running in the August 4 primary for U.S. Senate in Kansas, hoping to challenge incumbent Republican Sen. Roger Marshall.
Murray, a father of four, said he’s motivated to run for the U.S. Senate because elected officials in Washington aren’t focused on the priorities of the people they represent.
“This president is growing that deficit a trillion dollars a quarter, spending a billion dollars a day on foreign wars. The guy that I'm running against is smiling and nodding and accepting that,” Murray said. “We need leaders that are going to go to Washington and redo our priorities.”
Murray said his lived experience, passion and career experience set him apart from his primary challengers.
KCUR's Up To Date is reaching out to all the U.S. Senate candidates in Kansas ahead of the election. The state hasn’t elected a Democrat to the U.S. Senate since 1932.
A resident of Kansas City, Kansas, Murray is the founder CEO of the development company Eastside Innovation. Eastside Innovation pitched a mixed-use, billion-dollar revitalization plan at the site of the former Indian Springs Mall.
“I've used federal policy for years, whether that's affordable housing tax credits, I'm an expert on a thing called opportunity zones,” Murray said. “I know how to use federal policy to drive investment into communities.”
Murray has not been elected to office, something that he says bodes well for him.
“Not a single person has been upset that I've never held elected office,” Murray said. “I don't have any of that political stink on me.”
While on the campaign trail, Murray says his priorities are healthcare, education and economic opportunities. He said he supports “Medicare For All,” and rejected the idea that Americans will push back against socialized medicine.
“I am rejecting the false choice that we have to choose between, you know, keeping our hospitals open and keeping our communities healthy, and this false idea of socialism,” Murray said. “The reality is that this country is socializing corporate welfare and then privatizing profit.”
Murray advocates for strong borders, but said the country needs a functioning immigration system with a pathway to legal immigration. He wants to reduce defense spending and to cut tax breaks for billionaires and corporations in order to protect social security.
“Americans want solutions not chaos, and that's what I'm bringing to the US Senate,” Murray said.
- Erik Murray, Kansas Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate
