Greg Murphy for GOVERNOR ???
I’ve been around politics for a while. In this game, rumors are as bountiful as pine straw in my neck of the woods. Though, sometimes they do pan out.
Dr. Greg Murphy of Greenville has been quite the rising star. He got appointed to a North Carolina House seat and served there for two terms. With the passing of congressman Walter Jones, Murphy threw his hat into the 17-candidate GOP field to replace the local political legend.
After fighting through a primary, a runoff, and a general election, Murphy was seated in Congress in September of last year. It was a matter of months after he was seated that I began to hear talk from DC, Raleigh, and all across the 3rd congressional district that Murphy wants to run for governor in 2024.
If true, that would create an interesting scenario for the state’s Republican voters — who are counting on their fellow Republican Dan Forest defeating Roy Cooper in 2020 and running for reelection as governor in 2024.
What really got my spidey-sense tingling was a recent conversation I had with a friend and fellow politico who lives clear on the other side of the state from Murphy’s 3rd district. This friend is a high-dollar GOP donor who is also known to organize high-dollar fundraisers for candidates. We hadn’t spoken in a while, and were busy catching up. Then, out of the blue, he asks me what I think about Greg Murphy.
That threw me for a loop, since this guy is so far removed geographically from Murphy’s 3rd district. I offered up my insight. My friend then told me of a conversation he had earlier this year with a well-known GOP campaign consultant. (My source later IDed the consultant as Andy Yates, who you may remember from the 2018 Mark Harris congressional campaign.). This guy told me that — according to Yates — congressman Murphy is seriously considering a 2024 run for governor.
My friend asked Yates how that would work since, hopefully, Dan Forest would be running for reelection as governor in 2024. According to my source, this was Yates’s response:
“He said ‘It’s too late for Dan’. He said ‘He’s wasted a lot of time and it’s too late to knock Cooper off. We need to go ahead and cut our losses and concentrate on what we can win in 2020. The smart thing to do is prepare somebody for 2024 when the seat will be open.'”
Murphy has been in DC since September 2019. It’s now July 2020.
It’s silly for Murphy to be considering a gubernatorial run at this point, but if he has the big money backers, he can do it. The slate may be crowded. It’s not clear yet whether Phil Berger has his eyes on Burr’s seat in 2022 or on the governor’s seat in 2024. Word has it that his tenure in the Senate may be coming to an end, one way or another.
Talk about massively premature. Forest may yet get swept into office, not because of his campaign savvy or lack thereof, but because Cooper is sitting on a powder keg of millions of conservative, moderate, and even liberal parents of school children who are fed up with the new normal of not knowing how they’re going to have to plan their lives for the coming school year. As for Murphy, I’m not a fan of his time in the state house and he certainly doesn’t excite me for Governor. In his favor, the usual suspects (Berger, Moore, McCrory, Mark Walker) make him look good by comparison.
Another four years of power mad Roy Cooper is pretty much unthinkable. I’m trying to imagine how much more we could lose in four more years of never ending emergency powers fueled dictatorship. Unimaginable and not acceptable.
I really is sad that we are going to get four more years of the Doof because Forrest can not really run a campaign. I think Lt Dan would be a very good governor if he stuck to what he says…but I doubt he will get a chance unless the GOP has been working on a huge ballot manufacturing process to counteract the Doof’s operation.
Murphy is my rep. He came out running hard and has been a strong voice. He’s heavily Q’d Dr Cohen and Gov Cooper and stated publicly on radio, both lied to him about multiple COVID19 issues. He always gives strong support for Trump. Certainly has the medical field backing in the east and their deep $$ pockets.
WHile 2024 has to be a W for the GOP, sad and disheartened to read the ‘loss of 2020’ aspirations. Coop wasn’t that strong and had many holes in the armor and make poor decisions. His Admin is wreaking w/ poor mgt, over-spending, mismanagement and poor leadership and the offering was there for the taking. Ads could have been easily made with Folwell and Wood reports and findings. WE NEEDED 2020 to be the yr. Supr Ct is in flames and the NC atty general couldn’t be more worse. WE NEEDED 2020 to BE the yr…
It won’t be big money that defeats the Democrats – it will be a person with a non-political background and a track record of sticking to Conservative principles. Tommy Tuberville from Alabama comes to mind. President Trump is the standard against which the Moral Majority will judge candidates. Dan Forest is a super person but he is not a fighter, at least not enough to scrap with the vile trickery of the left.
Maybe Dan is just letting his opponent make a fool of himself.
And he is doing a good job of that don’t you think?
How does Murphy fit that huge head through a standard door opening?
For someone who used the Freedom Caucus to get elected, and now doesn’t seem to know them, he has illusions of grandeur. He must be writing himself prescriptions.
Gregg, I’ll be voting to re-elect Governor Forest in 2024. Hope you enjoyed your 5 minutes of fame.
Disappointed to see this speculation. Lt. Gov. Forest is the strongest Republican candidate for Governor ever in NC history. Despite our incompetent Governor’s domination of the drive-by media during the China Virus pandemic, Forest is still poised to win in November. His campaign is ramping up now and I fully expect for him and Mark Robinson to sweep into our top two elected offices Nov 3rd. Cooper simply cannot keep them (and us) locked down another 3+ months. If Rep Greg Murphy has designs on a future gubernatorial bid, I pray he has the good political sense to keep them ‘under the radar’. Nothing good comes from disclosures like this emanating from consultants.
Please. Jim Martin was 10x the candidate that Forest is. And Jim Broyhill was better as well.
Dan Forest Will Win and be our next Governor… Enough of this 2024 hand ringing… Let’s get rolling …support him in 2020… Man/Woman Up!!
I think if Trump takes NC, so will Forest who bagged 2.3 million NC votes last time and may do even better because at least some disgusted and fiscally injured Dems are going to cross the aisle and vote for him.
Quit your crying and get busy electing Dan Forest for governor!