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Patrick Murray (Vermont)
From Ballotpedia
This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.
Patrick Murray (Democratic Party) ran for election to the Vermont House of Representatives to represent Chittenden-8-2 District. He lost in the Democratic primary on August 11, 2020.
Murray completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Patrick Murray attended the University of Vermont. His professional experience includes working as a telecommunications repair technician. He has served as clerk of the Essex Westford School District school board, where he also sat on the communications committee and the transportation policy committee. Murray is vice chair of the Essex Selectboard, and director of charitable giving and a board of trustees member for Nightmare Vermont. He is a member of Voice for Education, the Center for Technology Essex/Burlington Tech Center's regional advisory board, the Chittenden Solid Waste District board, and Essex Rotary.[1]
Elections
2020
See also: Vermont House of Representatives elections, 2020
General election
General election for Vermont House of Representatives Chittenden 8-2 District (Historical) (2 seats)
Incumbent Lori Houghton and Karen Dolan defeated Edmond Daudelin and Brett Gaskill in the general election for Vermont House of Representatives Chittenden 8-2 District (Historical) on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Lori Houghton (D) | 36.6 | 3,828 |
| ✔ |  | Karen Dolan (D)  | 33.3 | 3,474 |
| Edmond Daudelin (R) | 15.4 | 1,605 | ||
| Brett Gaskill (R) | 14.6 | 1,525 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.1 | 14 | ||
| Total votes: 10,446 | |||
| = 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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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Vermont House of Representatives Chittenden 8-2 District (Historical) (2 seats)
Incumbent Lori Houghton and Karen Dolan defeated Patrick Murray in the Democratic primary for Vermont House of Representatives Chittenden 8-2 District (Historical) on August 11, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Lori Houghton | 45.4 | 1,446 |
| ✔ | | Karen Dolan | 35.0 | 1,113 |
| Patrick Murray | 19.0 | 605 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.6 | 19 | ||
| Total votes: 3,183 | |||
| = 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 Vermont House of Representatives Chittenden 8-2 District (Historical) (2 seats)
Edmond Daudelin advanced from the Republican primary for Vermont House of Representatives Chittenden 8-2 District (Historical) on August 11, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Edmond Daudelin | 87.1 | 553 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 12.9 | 82 | ||
| Total votes: 635 | |||
| = 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
2020
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Patrick Murray completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Murray's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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I grew up in a low income household in Lyndon Vermont that struggled with food security and domestic violence like many other families in similar circumstances. I was able to attend UVM on a scholarship and have lived in Essex Junction with my daughter for the last 11 years. It was in Essex that I became involved in community work, first creatively as a writer and director of charitable shows and then on the Prudential Committee and EWSD school board. It was this experience that encouraged me to run for a seat on the Town of Essex Selectboard, becoming the only person to hold a seat on both at the same time. While dual appointments come with significant work they've also brought tremendous opportunity to see how our tax dollars get spent and can best be utilized between all the groups that receive them in Essex. I have had a job since I was fifteen years old and never spent time without one, even through my time at UVM. My career has been in telecommunications where I've worked to repair everything from email to fiber optics to telephone lines throughout Vermont and have done so for nearly 20 years.
- COVID-19 Recovery and Mitigation
- Technical Education expansion and training
- Universal Broadband
My first interest is in education and in particular how we can provide excellent, well paying jobs and opportunities right out of high school with access to the right technical education opportunities. I want to make sure that we can deliver that to all learners in our communities. Continuing in that trend is access to affordable, quality post-secondary educational opportunities. Vermont has consistently ranked at the very bottom in state-wide investment in its community college system. This means our kids are faced with the choices of leaving the state or entering into significant debt to pay for educational opportunity at a time when we struggle to attract young people.
Universal broadband has been a consistent letdown from a political standpoint but the pandemic has shone a harsh light on the reality that it cannot wait any longer. Broadband has become the difference maker between working from home during COVID-19 and being placed on furlough. For homes with children, having broadband means access to their teachers during classroom time if or when school need to be closed again in the days to come. We have to act and with my background and knowledge I have an expertise that has been lacking in the statehouse up until this point to provide realistic paths forward.
Universal broadband has been a consistent letdown from a political standpoint but the pandemic has shone a harsh light on the reality that it cannot wait any longer. Broadband has become the difference maker between working from home during COVID-19 and being placed on furlough. For homes with children, having broadband means access to their teachers during classroom time if or when school need to be closed again in the days to come. We have to act and with my background and knowledge I have an expertise that has been lacking in the statehouse up until this point to provide realistic paths forward.
Elected officials must be able to represent all of their constituents while also being very mindful that some voices in a community lack the ability to be heard as loud as others. Advocating for the disenfranchised and those that are in the minority or are distrustful of the systems in place is a key part of being a truly representative politician. You can't just make yourself available but you have to be proactive about seeking out these voices and doing whatever you can to bring them to the table.
I also have a core belief that ideals without ideas are meaningless. An elected official can take a stance but without valid, realistic ways to implement their beliefs then all the rhetoric in the world remains as just talk. You have to be willing to work to see your ideas through and I think that there can be a real disconnect in modern politics between lofty ideals and the ability to actually get them done. It is up to you as a servant of the people that elected you into office to present clear and well-thought out plans and goals.
I also have a core belief that ideals without ideas are meaningless. An elected official can take a stance but without valid, realistic ways to implement their beliefs then all the rhetoric in the world remains as just talk. You have to be willing to work to see your ideas through and I think that there can be a real disconnect in modern politics between lofty ideals and the ability to actually get them done. It is up to you as a servant of the people that elected you into office to present clear and well-thought out plans and goals.
When I was sixteen I needed to take an after-school/full time summer job that I stayed in until I left for college. The job was working at a resale greenhouse in the town of Lyndon, Vermont and it meant learning a little bit of everything; transplanting seedlings, watering, landscaping, tractor-work and truck deliveries. This is the sort of work that I feel is at the soul of Vermont, working with your hands and coming in at the end of the day covered in dirt. There's an honesty to it and a requirement of patience that can teach lifelong lessons.
I took this job because even at that age money was tight enough for my family that I had to pay for my own lunches at school so my younger siblings could get by. This also let me buy and maintain a second car for the family to help with transit getting to and from school because we didn't have busing to high school. The ability to be able to work was a huge relief for my mother and while it was difficult to work every day and keep up with classes it was a simple necessity. I keep many of these lessons with me today. It's the reason why I'm passionate about providing lunches to all students in school, no questions asked. No child should have to make the choice to take on a job for worry of getting fed lunch.
I took this job because even at that age money was tight enough for my family that I had to pay for my own lunches at school so my younger siblings could get by. This also let me buy and maintain a second car for the family to help with transit getting to and from school because we didn't have busing to high school. The ability to be able to work was a huge relief for my mother and while it was difficult to work every day and keep up with classes it was a simple necessity. I keep many of these lessons with me today. It's the reason why I'm passionate about providing lunches to all students in school, no questions asked. No child should have to make the choice to take on a job for worry of getting fed lunch.
I am an unabashed nerd and not afraid to admit it. That said, if I was picking any fictional character to be I'd probably choose Obi-Won Kenobi. He was always noble and willing to fight for what he believed in. He was a protector of those weaker than himself and a champion of good. That's a thought that makes me smile even now: To be a knight willing to fight for the right thing. Also: Lightsabers.
I had a difficult youth in a number of ways. I grew up in a low income household and food insecurity was a problem, so much so that I needed to take a job during high school to continue eating lunches at school. My stepfather was capable of violence and there were occasions where I needed to hide his handguns to make sure they weren't going to be used on me, my siblings or my mother while he was drinking. I distinctly remember having to flee in the middle of the night in a snowstorm with my toddler sister in my arms because my mother was at work and we were unsafe at home. One of my brothers had cystic fibrosis and has since passed away from complications of the disease so that was always a mental burden as I was growing up and a challenge to our relationship. All of this though I will say has left me with sympathy and caring for those in similar positions. I remember, distinctly what I felt in these many situations and so I want to be able to help as many people as I can to never have to feel the way I did. I want to protect children from worries of food insecurity and fears of violence because I have been in their shoes and it is a memory that never fades.
The biggest difference between Vermont's chambers comes in the ability of the Senate to provide adequate representation in the larger counties. While the House of Representatives as apportioned fairly it is much more difficult in the case of Chittenden County Senate members in particular to be able to have a personal connection with those who elect them. This becomes more problematic as we continue to see growth in the areas around Burlington and suburbs but populations decrease in the more rural areas of Vermont.
I think that it is extremely beneficial to have previous experience in government, particularly now as we struggle with the shortfalls created by the COVID-19 crisis. In general, we have seen nationally what the lack of governmental experience can do when it comes to winning office and then trying to run a country. Knowing as many aspects about the community that you serve is critical when it comes to making decisions around tax policy and the distribution of funds. The learning curve is substantial when getting into a position of government and having that background helps to mitigate the amount of time spent getting up to speed versus how quickly one can begin to address the needs of their community going forward at such a critical time.
Redistricting must be an independent process, done by an unaffiliated third party. In my opinion, we have the ability to use mathematics to remove partisan choices completely from the equation and ensure that redistricting is done fairly for all involved. The enshrinement of one person, one vote needs to be held paramount. Nobody's vote should ever be held with more weight than another because of where they happen to live.
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.
See also
2020 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on July 12, 2020
Current members of the Vermont House of Representatives
Leadership
Majority Leader:Lori Houghton
Minority Leader:Patricia McCoy
Representatives
Addison-2 District
Peter Conlon (D)
Addison-4 District
Herb Olson (D)
Addison-5 District
Jubilee McGill (D)
Addison-Rutland District
Jim Casey (R)
Bennington-1 District
Jonathan Cooper (D)
Bennington-3 District
David Durfee (D)
Bennington-Rutland District
Sandy Pinsonault (R)
Caledonia-1 District
Debra Powers (R)
Caledonia-2 District
Caledonia-Washington District
Greg Burtt (R)
Chittenden-1 District
Jana Brown (D)
Chittenden-10 District
Kate Nugent (D)
Chittenden-11 District
Brian Minier (D)
Chittenden-12 District
Martin LaLonde (D)
Chittenden-17 District
Abbey Duke (D)
Chittenden-24 District
Alyssa Black (D)
Chittenden-25 District
Brenda Steady (R)
Chittenden-4 District
Phil Pouech (D)
Chittenden-5 District
Chittenden-6 District
Kate Lalley (D)
Chittenden-7 District
Shawn Sweeney (D)
Chittenden-8 District
Chittenden-9 District
Emilie Krasnow (D)
Essex-Caledonia District
John Kascenska (R)
Essex-Orleans District
Larry Labor (R)
Franklin-2 District
Eileen Dickinson (R)
Franklin-3 District
Joe Luneau (R)
Franklin-6 District
James Gregoire (R)
Franklin-7 District
Allen Demar (R)
Franklin-8 District
Casey Toof (R)
Lamoille-1 District
Jed Lipsky (I)
Lamoille-3 District
Lucy Boyden (D)
Orange-1 District
Orange-2 District
Orange-3 District
Josh Dobrovich (R)
Orange-Caledonia District
Joseph Parsons (R)
Orleans-1 District
Richard Nelson (R)
Orleans-2 District
Woodman Page (R)
Orleans-3 District
Ken Wells (R)
Orleans-4 District
Leanne Harple (D)
Rutland-1 District
Patricia McCoy (R)
Rutland-10 District
William Canfield (R)
Rutland-11 District
Jim Harrison (R)
Rutland-3 District
Zachary Harvey (R)
Rutland-4 District
Rutland-5 District
Eric Maguire (R)
Rutland-6 District
Mary Howard (D)
Rutland-7 District
Chris Keyser (R)
Rutland-8 District
Alicia Malay (R)
Rutland-9 District
Todd Nielsen (R)
Rutland-Bennington District
Chris Pritchard (R)
Rutland-Windsor District
Kevin Winter (R)
Washington-5 District
Elanor Chapin (D)
Washington-6 District
Marc Mihaly (D)
Windham-1 District
Zon Eastes (D)
Windham-2 District
Laura Sibilia (I)
Windham-4 District
Mike Mrowicki (D)
Windham-5 District
Emily Long (D)
Windham-6 District
Windham-7 District
Windham-8 District
Mollie Burke (D)
Windham-9 District
Ian Goodnow (D)
Windham-Windsor-Bennigton District
Windsor-2 District
VL Coffin (R)
Windsor-4 District
Windsor-5 District
Charlie Kimbell (D)
Windsor-Addison District
Kirk White (D)
Windsor-Orange-1 District
John O'Brien (D)
Windsor-Windham District
Thomas Charlton (R)
Democratic Party (86)
Republican Party (56)
Independent (4)
Vermont Progressive Party (3)
