Career
Murray made an unsuccessful run for congress in a special election in 1996 when he lost to Juanita McDonald. After that loss, he left the Assembly due to term limits. After working as an engineer throughout the 1950s, he became involved politically with the onset of the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s.
He served on the staffs of Los Angeles City Councilmen Robert Farrell and Billy Mills.
On a state level, he served on the staffs of Lieutenant Governor Mervyn Dymally and as an advisor to the Senate Democratic Caucus. As a politician Murray focused on education, crime control, economic development, family values, homeless veterans, and pediatric and prenatal care for the poor.
Murray coauthored legislation which provides for Superintendents of Education in both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the California Youth Authority to have literacy programs for inmates to preempt recidivism. In 1997, the government of California rewarded Murray with a section of the State Route 91 named after him.
