Current Bridgeport City Recorder member and city Dr. Harry “Hank” Murray has filed to run for City Council once again as City Recorder in the June 11 Bridgeport Municipal Election.

 

The first day to file a certificate declaring candidacy was Jan. 14. That process will be open through this Thursday, April 11. Murray was the third applicant in the Council race thus far and filed late Monday, said City Clerk Donna Krivosky.

 

Two Council members will be elected, as well as a new city recorder to four-year terms. Elected in June of 2015 for four-year terms were Council member Jeff Smell, Council member Lowell “L.J.” Maxey and Murray. Smell has filed for re-election to his Council seat, while resident Donnie Tate is also looking to land one of two seats on Council. Maxey has announced he will not seek re-election.

 

For 40 years, Murray has been employed as an optometrist with Murray, Murray and Groves, where he is a partner. Murray, a lifelong city resident, is a 1971 graduate of Bridgeport High School and a 1975 graduate of West Virginia Wesleyan College where he received a bachelor’s degree in mathematics. He then went to optometry school at Southern College of Optometry in Memphis, Tenn. Murray sits on the Bridgeport Library Board, the Warren and Betty Burnside Foundation Board, Fairmont State University’s Mathematics Department Advisory Board, among others. He lives in Bridgeport with his wife Sherry. Murray and his wife have three children and seven grandchildren.

 

To run for one of the three positions, certificates must be filed with the City Clerk’s office accompanied by a $25 filing fee no later than 4 p.m. Thursday, April 11, 2019. The election is nonpartisan, and any person who is a qualified voter of the City of Bridgeport may file.

 

A qualified voter is anyone who is a minimum of 18 years of age, a resident of Bridgeport, and not under conviction of a felony or other disqualification. Certificates declaring candidacy may be obtained at Bridgeport City Hall, 515 West Main Street, between the hours of 7:30 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday through this Thursday.