The Rev. Marshall Murphy, pastor of First Christian Church of Demopolis recently became the new Marengo County Republican Party Chairman. Murphy recently became the new chairman, since the county party’s former chairman, Attorney Chip Malvonado in Linden, just became apart of the Alabama State Republican Executive Committee.

“My job is to let the people in Marengo County know who the candidates, are and what they stand for,” Murphy said. “There are very good Democrats and I urge every Republican and every Democrat to vote for the best person for the job,” Murphy said. “the best person needs to win.”

Marengo County has approximately 14,405 registered voters, and last Tuesday’s primary election results for the county revealed that the total number that voted was 7,401. Out of the total number of ballots from Tuesday for the county, 593 were Republican ballots and 6,808 were Democratic.

“We have a lot of good Democrats in office the chairman of the Democratic Party here in Marengo County,” Murphy said. “We do have good Republican candidates running for office from Marengo County. Bob Duke is running for the state senate District 23 and Bob is a long-time resident of Marengo County.”

“A lot of people in Marengo County feel like their vote doesn’t count, and every vote does count” Murphy said.

He also discussed other negative influences on voters including party-based voting. “Don’t just vote straight Republican or straight Democrat,,” Murphy said

“There are very little differences in Democrats and Republicans here,”Murphy said. “We are in the middle of the Bible Belt, and Democrats and Republicans alike are in church on Sundays,”Murphy said. “Bob Riley is good Christian God-Fearing man.”

Murphy said that one Democratic candidate running for Alabama Attorney General named “Larry Darby, who is a known atheist,” received 1,000 votes from the area. “It was suprising.”