Kevin Murray
Kevin Murray is an at-large representative on the Janesville School District school board in Wisconsin. First elected in 2005, Murray won a new term in the at-large general election on April 4, 2017.
Murray was also a 2012 Democratic candidate for District 44 of the Wisconsin State Assembly. He lost the primary election.
Biography
Murray earned his Associate's degree in Fire Science from Blackhawk Technical College. He worked as a firefighter and paramedic with the Janesville Fire Department until his retirement. Murray is a veteran of the U.S. Air Force.[1]
Elections
2017
Three of the nine seats on the Janesville School District school board were up for at-large general election on April 4, 2017. A total of six candidates filed for the seats. Board incumbent Kevin Murray was successful in his bid for re-election and was joined in his victory by newcomer Ben Dobson and former board member Karl Dommershausen. They defeated R. Michael Flynn, Janine Hegle, and Thomas Murphy.[2]
Results
| Janesville School District, At-Large General Election, 3-year terms, 2017 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Kevin Murray Incumbent |
26.70% | 4,357 |
| Ben Dobson |
17.46% | 2,849 |
| Karl Dommershausen |
16.83% | 2,747 |
| Janine Hegle | 16.69% | 2,724 |
| Thomas Murphy | 11.60% | 1,893 |
| R. Michael Flynn | 10.56% | 1,723 |
| Write-in votes | 0.15% | 25 |
| Total Votes | 16,318 | |
| Source: Elisabeth Moore, "Email correspondence with Debra Blazer, Board Relations Coordinator," May 24, 2017 | ||
Funding
All candidates in this race claimed exemption from reporting campaign contributions or expenditures, according to the Janesville School District.[3]
All school board candidates in Wisconsin were required to file a campaign registration statement with the Wisconsin Ethics Commission after qualifying as candidates. This statement declares their candidacy to the county clerk's office and allows them to claim exemption from reporting campaign contributions and expenditures. Candidates were only required to report campaign contributions and expenditures if they did one or both of the following:[4]
- Accepted contributions, made disbursements, or incurred debt in excess of $2,000 during the calendar year
- Accepted more than $100 from a single source during the calendar year, barring contributions made by candidates to their own campaigns
There were three campaign finance report deadlines in 2017:
- The pre-primary report was due February 13, 2017,
- The pre-election report was due March 27, 2017, and
- The post-election report was due July 15, 2017.[5]
Candidates who filed before January 1, 2017, also had to file a continuing campaign finance report on January 16, 2017.[6]
Endorsements
Murray received official endorsements from the Gazette Xtra and the Wisconsin State AFL-CIO.[7][8]
2014
Kevin Murray ran against fellow incumbent Bill Sodemann as well as challengers Diane Eyers, Fred Jackson, and Dale Thompson in the general election on April 1, 2014.
Results
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nonpartisan | Kevin Murray Incumbent |
29% | 4,360 | |
| Nonpartisan | Dale Thompson |
20.3% | 3,051 | |
| Nonpartisan | Bill Sodemann Incumbent |
17.4% | 2,612 | |
| Nonpartisan | Diane Eyers | 17% | 2,554 | |
| Nonpartisan | Fred Jackson | 16.3% | 2,448 | |
| Nonpartisan | Write-in votes | 0.2% | 29 | |
| Total Votes | 15,054 | |||
| Source: Rock County Clerk, "2014 Spring General Election," April 1, 2014 | ||||
Funding
Murray was exempt from filing a pre-election campaign finance report to the school district clerk by the March 24 deadline.[9] State law allowed candidates to claim exempt status from campaign finance reporting if contributions and expenditures did not exceed $1,000 during a calendar year.[10]
Endorsements
Murray received the endorsement of The Gazette in the April 1 general election.[11]
2012
- See also: Wisconsin State Assembly elections, 2012
Murray ran in the 2012 election for Wisconsin State Assembly District 44. He ran against Debra Kolste, Sam Liebert, and Yuri Rashkin in the Democratic primary on August 14, 2012. Incumbent Joe Knilans (R) is running unopposed in the Republican primary. The general election took place on November 6, 2012.[12]
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
|---|---|---|
|
Debra Kolste |
42.1% | 1,926 |
| Kevin Murray | 35.2% | 1,610 |
| Yuri Rashkin | 15.4% | 705 |
| Sam Liebert | 7.3% | 335 |
| Total Votes | 4,576 | |
Campaign themes
2014
In an interview with The Gazette, Murray acknowledged his role as a frequent critic of Superintendent Karen Schulte:
| “ |
That's been kind of my reputation, one who isn't afraid to question what's going on in the school district, not in a confrontational way, but I consider myself to be an average guy, and I just want to know, so I can feel confident in what is going on and making sure our taxpayer dollars are being spent in the right way. [13] |
” |
| —Kevin Murray (2014) | ||
See also
- Janesville School District, Wisconsin
- Janesville School District elections (2017)
- Janesville School District elections (2014)
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 GazetteXtra, "Five in the running for three Janesville School Board seats," January 8, 2014
- ↑ Rock County Clerk's Office, "April 4, 2017 - Spring Election - Unofficial Results," accessed April 4, 2017
- ↑ Elisabeth Moore, "Email conversation with Debra Blazer," March 30, 2017
- ↑ Wisconsin State Legislature, "11.0104 Reporting exemptions: limited activity," accessed December 15, 2016
- ↑ Wisconsin Ethics Commission, "Filing Deadlines and Reporting Periods," accessed December 15, 2016
- ↑ Wisconsin Ethics Commission, "Campaign Finance Checklist," accessed December 16, 2016
- ↑ Gazette Xtra, "Our Views: Hopeful but concerned about this Janesville School Board slate," March 31, 2017
- ↑ Wisconsin State AFL-CIO, "Spring Election Endorsements," accessed March 19, 2017
- ↑ Information submitted through email from Debra Blazer on March 25, 2014.
- ↑ Wisconsin Government Accountability Board, "Campaign Finance Overview: Local Candidates," May 2010
- ↑ GazetteXtra, "Our Views: Kevin Murray, Bill Sodemann, Diane Eyers earn nods for Janesville School Board," March 30, 2014
- ↑ Wisconsin Government Accountability Board, "Candidates on Ballot by Election - 2012 Partisan Primary 8/14/2012," accessed June 12, 2012 (dead link)
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
| Janesville School District elections in 2017 | |
| Rock County, Wisconsin | |
| Election date: | April 4, 2017 |
| Candidates: | At-large: Incumbent, Kevin Murray • Ben Dobson • Karl Dommershausen • R. Michael Flynn • Janine Hegle • Thomas Murphy |
| Important information: | What was at stake? |
