DELAWARE- Julianne Murray, chair of the Delaware Republican Party, is expected to officially enter the race for governor on May 8, according to a spokesperson for the Delaware GOP.
"I believe I am the most qualified and viable candidate that has the experience of closing the gap based on my last two statewide elections," said Murray in a letter shared by a Republican political action committee on Thursday. "I have worked tirelessly for the last four years trying to make Delaware better and will, once again, put everything on the line for what could be our last chance to save Delaware."
With this announcement, Murray clarified that Delaware GOP bylaws do not require her to leave her seat as the chair and that she will retain the position.
CoastTV spoke with Murray in June when a group of Democratic candidates began announcing campaigns for Delaware's single seat in the U.S. House and current U.S. Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester announced she was running for current Sen. Tom Carper's soon-to-be-vacated U.S. Senate seat. At that time, Murray declined to share who the Republican Party was considering as potential candidates.
Now, Murray has said she's worked with the party to seek out other potential candidates to run, though the search was unsuccessful.
"I deferred to the continual search in the hope we could find a candidate who could bring the same attributes that I could bring. While we spoke to many, no one met the criteria we were hoping to find," said Murray.
According to the Department of Elections, Murray does not have a campaign committee established as of yet. The Republican gubernatorial primary race is expected to soon include Murray and Lewes resident Jerry Price, who filed his candidacy in December.
Murray previously ran for governor in 2020, her first time as a candidate, following her role in suing Gov. John Carney over COVID-19 restrictions. Murray also ran for Delaware attorney general in 2022 against current Attorney General Kathy Jennings. Jennings won with 54 percent of the vote.
