Brian Murphy storms the state: "Things are great!"
Republican gubernatorial challenger Brian Murphy says he isn't seeing a lot of voters out today but feels "great" about where his campaign stands going into the final hours of the primary election.
"We couldn't ask for a better situation today," Murphy said in a telephone interview between campaign stops. "We're hitting our stride at just the right time. I love where we are."
Murphy, a 33-year-old investor who has never run for office, is facing well-known and well-funded former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. in the GOP gubernatorial primary today.
The more conservative of the two, Murphy hopes to tap into tea party anger at government spending. Ehrlich, meanwhile, has billed himself the more centrist -- and electable -- Republican candidate in Democrat-heavy Maryland.
(The likely Democratic candidate, Gov. Martin O'Malley, faces two little-known primary challengers of his own.)
Murphy attracted national attention when former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin endorsed him last month. She did a robocall for him last night, as she did for her other primary favorites across the country.
The underdog candidate has a packed schedule today: Murphy and wife, Joy, voted this morning at the Chevy Chase Library, and then he hit several other polling places in Anne Arundel and Montgomery counties. This afternoon, he has media appearances and then will watch returns come in from his campaign headquarters in Crofton.
He said he'd seen only a dozen or so voters out there, but remains optimistic that his message -- he's been on a self-proclaimed "Refuse to Settle" tour -- is resonating.
Murphy refused to speculate about his plans for tomorrow, but he said he has had a great experience as a gubernatorial candidate.
"I'd do it a million more times if I could. I've met so many amazing people, covered the entire state, walked in parades," he said. "It's humbling to have people's support. I've gotten so many hand-written cards thanking me for running."
Comments
Who do I have to call a Hitler Muslin Communist to get a robo-call from Palin? Been waiting for these all day!
Posted by: InsaneBaltimore | September 14, 2010 4:25 PM
Not that there were a slew of polls, but there was never any question Ehrlich would win this primary. That Murphy got more than ten or fifteen percent of the GOP vote is interesting, at least to me, because it suggests Ehrlich with his spendthrift ways and social centrism is insufficiently popular with Republicans in Maryland to earn him a chance in November. Just look at the primary turnout. Democrats had absolutely no reason to show up--O'Malley and Mikulski and most of the representatives had no serious opponents--yet they voted in greater numbers than Republicans. My prediction: Ehrlich will be lucky to receive 45% in November.
Posted by: Ed D | September 15, 2010 1:12 AM