Ben Murray (Wisconsin)

This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.

Ben Murray

Democratic Party

Elections and appointments

Last election

November 5, 2024

Education

Associates

American Military University, 2013

Military

Service / branch

U.S. Navy

Years of service

2008 - 2020

Personal

Birthplace

Fort Wayne, IN

Religion

Christian

Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Ben Murray (Democratic Party) ran for election to the Wisconsin State Assembly to represent District 36. He lost in the general election on November 5, 2024.

Biography

Ben Murray was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana. He served in the U.S. Navy from 2008 to 2020 and earned an associate degree from American Military University in 2013.

Elections

2024

See also: Wisconsin State Assembly elections, 2024

General election

General election for Wisconsin State Assembly District 36

Incumbent Jeffrey Mursau defeated Ben Murray in the general election for Wisconsin State Assembly District 36 on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Jeffrey Mursau (R)	70.8	24,905
		Ben Murray (D)	28.9	10,182
		Other/Write-in votes	0.3	103

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 35,190
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Wisconsin State Assembly District 36

Ben Murray advanced from the Democratic primary for Wisconsin State Assembly District 36 on August 13, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Ben Murray	99.9	3,469
		Other/Write-in votes	0.1	2

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 3,471
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for Wisconsin State Assembly District 36

Incumbent Jeffrey Mursau advanced from the Republican primary for Wisconsin State Assembly District 36 on August 13, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Jeffrey Mursau	99.8	7,803
		Other/Write-in votes	0.2	16

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 7,819
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Endorsements

Murray received the following endorsements.

• Contest Every Race

Pledges

Murray signed the following pledges.

• U.S. Term Limits

2022

See also: Wisconsin State Assembly elections, 2022

General election

General election for Wisconsin State Assembly District 36

Incumbent Jeffrey Mursau defeated Ben Murray in the general election for Wisconsin State Assembly District 36 on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Jeffrey Mursau (R)	70.4	19,698
		Ben Murray (D)	29.5	8,262
		Other/Write-in votes	0.1	20

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 27,980
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Wisconsin State Assembly District 36

Ben Murray advanced from the Democratic primary for Wisconsin State Assembly District 36 on August 9, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Ben Murray	99.9	2,212
		Other/Write-in votes	0.1	3

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 2,215
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Wisconsin State Assembly District 36

Incumbent Jeffrey Mursau advanced from the Republican primary for Wisconsin State Assembly District 36 on August 9, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Jeffrey Mursau	99.6	8,741
		Other/Write-in votes	0.4	33

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 8,774
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Campaign themes

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Ben Murray did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.

2022

Ben Murray completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Murray's responses.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I am an independent Democrat seeking to cut through the noise and political stereotypes. I proudly served in the Navy for 11 1/2 years and deployes 10 times on submarines.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• We can overcome political tribalism and work together for a better Wisconsin!
• Our rural communities need better access to quality healthcare
• We must work together to protect our clean water

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

I am most passionate about having leaders who engage with and listen to their voters. If elected, I will carry your voices with me to Madison. Career politicians who feel they will win by default no longer listen to their constituents and only serve themselves. As a first time candidate, and a Democrat in a deeply red district, I will listen to my electorate and support their needs. I want to cut through the noise, work with everyone in the Assembly, and remember that we are all Americans. Political tribalism is leading us down the wrong path. I will work, in good faith, with all parties to better our community and advance Wisconsin forward into the 21st Century!

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

There is no one I look up to or respect more than my father. He worked hard, paid his way through college, and became a very successful CEO. He instilled values of hard work, dedication, and determination.

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

I am willing and able to compromise, in good faith, and work well with others.

What legacy would you like to leave?

I would love to leave a legacy of stronger ethics laws for our legistlators, bipartisanship, and ensuring our children have a wonderful outdoors to continue enjoying

What do you believe is the ideal relationship between the governor and state legislature?

The two parties should work hand in hand. Despite a short legislative session, when an emergency arises, the legislature should return to session to support the Governor in any way shape or form needed.

What do you perceive to be your state's greatest challenges over the next decade?

Wisconsin is a heavily rural area. We need to continue improving rural broadband internet access, protect the environment, and our clean drinking water. Our population has been relatively stagnant over the past decade. WI needs to invest in protecting farmers, expanding manufacturing, and continue efforts to bring good paying jobs to Wisconsin.

Do you believe that it’s beneficial for state legislators to have previous experience in government or politics?

Not necessarily. Too much experience and you become stagnant. Sometimes all that is needed is an injection of new blood and fresh ideas.

Do you believe it’s beneficial to build relationships with other legislators? Please explain your answer.

The State Assembly has 99 seats. If I fail to build relationships with my fellow legislators, how can we work together? Not everyone will be my friend, but I must foster a relationship of trust and encourage engagement on difficult issues.

What process do you favor for redistricting?

Non-partisan groups working together to draw logical lines.

Do you believe that compromise is necessary or desirable for policymaking?

Compromise is 100% necessary for policymaking.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

Campaign finance summary

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Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.

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Ben Murray campaign contribution history

Year	Office	Status	Contributions	Expenditures
2024	Wisconsin State Assembly District 36	Lost general	$17,676	$17,313
2022	Wisconsin State Assembly District 36	Lost general	$19,341	$19,879
Grand total			$37,018	$37,192
Sources: OpenSecrets,  Federal Elections Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).

See also

2024 Elections

What's on the ballot? U.S. President U.S. Congress U.S. Congress special elections State executives State legislatures State courts Ballot measures Municipal government School boards Election analysis hub

Government

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Newsletters

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External links

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Candidate

Wisconsin State Assembly District 36

Website

Facebook

Footnotes

[show]

Current members of the Wisconsin State Assembly

Leadership

Minority Leader:Greta Neubauer

Representatives

District 1

Joel Kitchens (R)

District 2

Shae Sortwell (R)

District 3

Ron Tusler (R)

District 4

David Steffen (R)

District 5

Joy Goeben (R)

District 6

Elijah Behnke (R)

District 7

Karen Kirsch (D)

District 8

Sylvia Ortiz-Velez (D)

District 9

Priscilla Prado (D)

District 10

Darrin Madison (D)

District 11

Sequanna Taylor (D)

District 12

Russell Goodwin (D)

District 13

Robyn Vining (D)

District 14

Angelito Tenorio (D)

District 15

Adam Neylon (R)

District 16

Kalan Haywood (D)

District 17

Supreme Omokunde (D)

District 18

Margaret Arney (D)

District 19

Ryan Clancy (D)

District 20

Christine Sinicki (D)

District 21

Jessie Rodriguez (R)

District 22

Paul Melotik (R)

District 23

Deb Andraca (D)

District 24

Daniel Knodl (R)

District 25

Paul Tittl (R)

District 26

Joe Sheehan (D)

District 27

Lindee Brill (R)

District 28

Rob Kreibich (R)

District 29

Treig Pronschinske (R)

District 30

Shannon Zimmerman (R)

District 31

Tyler August (R)

District 32

Amanda Nedweski (R)

District 33

Robin Vos (R)

District 34

Rob Swearingen (R)

District 35

Calvin Callahan (R)

District 36

Jeffrey Mursau (R)

District 37

Mark Born (R)

District 38

William Penterman (R)

District 39

Alex Dallman (R)

District 40

Karen DeSanto (D)

District 41

Tony Kurtz (R)

District 42

Maureen McCarville (D)

District 43

Brienne Brown (D)

District 44

Ann Roe (D)

District 45

Clinton Anderson (D)

District 46

Joan Fitzgerald (D)

District 47

Randy Udell (D)

District 48

Andrew Hysell (D)

District 49

Travis Tranel (R)

District 50

Jenna Jacobson (D)

District 51

Todd Novak (R)

District 52

Lee Snodgrass (D)

District 53

Dean Kaufert (R)

District 54

Lori Palmeri (D)

District 55

Nate Gustafson (R)

District 56

Dave Murphy (R)

District 57

Kevin Petersen (R)

District 58

Rick Gundrum (R)

District 59

Robert Brooks (R)

District 60

Jerry O'Connor (R)

District 61

Robert Donovan (R)

District 62

Angelina Cruz (D)

District 63

Robert Wittke (R)

District 64

Tip McGuire (D)

District 65

Ben DeSmidt (D)

District 66

Greta Neubauer (D)

District 67

David Armstrong (R)

District 68

Rob Summerfield (R)

District 69

Karen Hurd (R)

District 70

Nancy VanderMeer (R)

District 71

Vinnie Miresse (D)

District 72

Scott Krug (R)

District 73

Angela Stroud (D)

District 74

Chanz Green (R)

District 75

Duke Tucker (R)

District 76

Francesca Hong (D)

District 77

Renuka Mayadev (D)

District 78

Shelia Stubbs (D)

District 79

Lisa Subeck (D)

District 80

Mike Bare (D)

District 81

Alex Joers (D)

District 82

Scott Allen (R)

District 83

Dave Maxey (R)

District 84

Chuck Wichgers (R)

District 85

Patrick Snyder (R)

District 86

John Spiros (R)

District 87

Brent Jacobson (R)

District 88

Benjamin Franklin (R)

District 89

Ryan Spaude (D)

District 90

Amaad Rivera-Wagner (D)

District 91

Jodi Emerson (D)

District 92

Clint Moses (R)

District 93

Christian Phelps (D)

District 94

Steve Doyle (D)

District 95

Jill Billings (D)

District 96

Tara Johnson (D)

District 97

Cindi Duchow (R)

District 98

Jim Piwowarczyk (R)

District 99

Barbara Dittrich (R)

Republican Party (54)

Democratic Party (45)