Friends of Joe Murray

During the past election cycle, Joe and I talked and decided that we did not want this blog to become a political platform. I assume that you all come here to read what is happening with Ella and in our family, not to know our political views. So on election day, when I encouraged you all to vote, I left it at that without partisan politics or personal opinion included. Well, this post will officially throw all of that out the window. Not really throw it out the window (we still won’t talk issues here. If you want our opinion you can just ask), but we will be talking about politics. That said, now on to the second exciting thing that happened on Tuesday. I’ll lay it all out in as much detail as I can, so be prepared.

I was in the middle of a staff meeting on Tuesday afternoon at 3:00. I hear Joe calling my cell phone (he has his own special ring) and didn’t think much of it. Then a couple of minutes later he called my cell phone again. Then he called my blackberry. I thought something might be wrong at home, so I left the meeting to answer my phone and see what was going on. Just as I got to my desk my cell phone rang again. I answered it and thankfully there wasn’t an emergency. Instead, Joe wanted to tell me that the House Delegate seat for our district was vacant and they were having a special primary election that night. Then came the question, “Do you think I should run?”

I try to be a supportive wife, but at the point when Joe asked me that question, there was one thing running through my mind…I need to get back to my staff meeting. So I think I said something like, “If you want to run then go for it.” And I didn’t think much of it beyond that.

All of this took place around 3:20. The filing deadline was 4:00. Joe tried to print his letter to add his name to the ballot, and our printer broke, so at 3:45 he turned in a hand written letter. At 4:00 he went to Beck’s house to borrow her computer and printer to print fliers. At 5:00 he came home to shower and get ready to stand in front of the polling place. When he got out of the shower he asked me what he should wear. I told him, “Put on a suit and that red shirt. I’ll go find your Christmas tie.” Within a few minutes he was off, fliers in hand and a smile on his face.

I left a few minutes later for the White House, and we stopped to cast our votes on our way. There were 3 Republican candidates (can you guess who I voted for) and Joe was right at the door so he was the last face people saw before walking into the room. While waiting for people to arrive, Joe was busy calling friends and sending emails asking people in the 46th District to come out and vote. His calls and emails paid off, and at 8:47 pm I got an email with a subject line that read, “I am going to win!”

As soon as we got in the car I called Joe to find out the final results. For the GOP party, 49 people turned out (remember, we are in Northern VA). The first candidate got 13 votes, the next got 16, and Joe got 20! Way to go Joe!

So now we are officially in a campaign. Needless to say, the past few days have been crazy with phone calls, emails, etc. The election will be January 13, 2009 (Joe’s mom’s birthday), so if you live in the 46th District of Virginia please come out and cast your vote for Joe! If you’re on Facebook, you can join the group “Friends of Joe Murray” to share your support. We’ll see how the next month goes.

As the candidate’s wife, I know two things for sure: 1) this will be one of the greatest learning experiences our family will ever go through, and 2) this is just the tip of the iceberg! If Joe doesn’t win this election, you won’t get rid of him that easily because I know that Joe will be out there again in the future working hard for the principles he believes in.