Despite a lopsided fundraising disadvantage, retired Army colonel Patrick Murray managed to narrowly defeat his organized and well-connected opponent, government attorney Matthew Berry, in a contest to see who will face ten-term Democratic congressman Jim Moran in the fall.
Berry called Murray to concede the race just before 9:00 last night. Murray won with 7,133 votes, or 51.75 percent of the vote, to Berry’s 6651 vote, or 48.25 percent.
Berry had an edge in Arlington and Alexandria, but unofficial voting numbers show that Murray won by a relatively wide margin in Falls Church and Fairfax County.
Murray issued the following statement today:
From the bottom of my heart, I want to thank you for the faith and trust you have shown by nominating me as your candidate to restore honor and dignity to the representation of Virginia’s 8th District seat in Congress. I pledge to you my best effort to reward your trust come November.
I thank Matthew Berry and his supporters. Matthew has my appreciation and congratulations on an energetic and spirited campaign. His commitment to the Republican principles of limited government and individual responsibility energized an army of Republican voters eager for change from profligate spending policies of the Obama-Pelosi-Moran regime in Washington.
The press has taken notice there were almost 14,000 voters in this Republican Congressional Primary. This clearly shows the high level of discontent among 8th District voters with Jim Moran’s long record of divisive and partisan representation.
We kicked off our campaign this morning on FOX5 at 9:00am this morning. Join the Murray Momentum as we work together to take our country back and send Jim Moran into political retirement.