With a goal of promoting sensible government, Albert Lea resident and financial adviser Rich Murray is seeking his first term as House District 27A representative.

He faces DFLer Robin Brown for the seat.

Murray, 53, a Republican, has been married for 34 years to his wife, Sandra. He has four children, eight grandchildren and two stepgrandchildren.

As the president and managing director of ISC Financial Advisors, he has worked in the investment advisory business, specializing in retirement planning for 25 years.

He said he thinks his financial and business background would help him deal with the budget crisis as a legislator.

Over the years, Murray has been heavily involved with the Freeborn County Republican Party and numerous civic and charitable organizations, including the United Way, the Salvation Army and the Naeve Healthcare Foundation.

He has taught parenting classes at the Freeborn County jail through Circle of Parents, taught Sunday School at First Presbyterian Church and has been involved with the Southern Minnesota Judicial Ethics Committee, the Exchange Club of Albert Lea and the Albert Lea Technical College Foundation Board, among others.

He noted he and his wife made southern Minnesota their home because of the values found here. People in this part of the state believe hard work will take a person somewhere, believe in helping your neighbor and believe church and schools are important.

In his spare time, he enjoys spending time with his grandchildren, reading and running.

Budget

Murray said his No. 1 priority if elected is the budget.

“That means going up and looking at everything the government does and try to figure out how to reign in the cost of government,” he said.

He noted that the state government budget has grown from $30 billion to $33 billion, and next year the deficit is expected to be at $6 billion.

He said he’s not anti-government, he’s just pro-sensible government.

He promoted the idea of looking at nearby states, including Wisconsin, Iowa, North Dakota and South Dakota, and finding out what things have worked well for them for their budget and in other areas and then implementing them in Minnesota.

He also talked about gaining more local control and limiting what funds the state government has to redistribute.

Regarding local government aid, Murray said it is an issue he would fight every time. He also talked about reform of the program as it has gone away from what it was intended for in some parts of the state.

Jobs

Murray said his second major goal if elected is to work to improve the job market.

He said as he’s been door knocking and meeting with people, he’s been seeing many people who are unemployed or underemployed.

“The job climate has to be improved,” Murray said. “It’s just very important that we find jobs, and even more importantly good-paying jobs.”

He also talked about tools for getting small businesses to stay and grow in the area through loans or possibly tax credits.

Regarding the Jobs Opportunity Building Zones project, Murray said it has made some good strides in helping some of the outstate communities.

He stated that while there are certain incentives that should be given for disadvantaged parts of the state, there should also be some programs and incentives developed for the entire state.

Education

Murray said he supports reforming state mandated tests for students and getting back to being in control of testing on the local level. This would eliminate a lot of the administrative costs as well.

He also talked about getting less interference in the classroom and letting teachers be creative in their teaching.

“There is no way that you should have to teach to a test,” he said.

He promotes the idea of getting parents more involved in their children’s education and bringing back accountability to the parents.

He said he also likes the idea of looking at early childhood education for all children and would support getting rid of the No Child Left Behind Act.

He supports more equitable funding for Greater Minnesota and pointed out that he can work with both sides of the aisle to get projects completed.

Constituent service

Murray said anyone who has ever worked with him knows he gives 100 percent all the time he’s involved with a project. The state Legislature would be no different.

He said he’s willing to get back to people on both the small and large issues that they may have.

“I’m going up there because I don’t want to leave the problems we’ve created on the shoulders of my children and grandchildren,” he said.

What’s next?

Murray said in the next couple of weeks before the election, he and his family are going to be going full force campaigning, including a lot more door knocking and distributing literature about his campaign.

“Even though it’s been hectic to do this, it’s been so much fun,” he said. “It’s been fun getting to know people.”

And no matter what happens in the Nov. 2 general election, Murray said he already feels like the winner.

“I’ve got to spend the last five months with my family, going out and meeting people and doing parades with my grandkids,” he said.

He’s also renewed many old friendships.