Pediatrician Joan Perry announced earlier this week that she’d be holding a press conference with Joe Anne Jones, the widow of longtime North Carolina Rep. Walter Jones, and many observers quite naturally assumed that Jones would use the occasion to endorse Perry in the July 9 GOP primary 3rd District runoff. However, that’s … not quite what happened.
Instead, Jones went Perry’s opponent, state Rep. Greg Murphy, for claiming that her husband wanted him as his successor. Jones in fact said she wasn’t endorsing any candidate, but she didn’t leave much doubt that she’d much rather see Perry win this race.
This bit of strangeness began unfurling a few days ago, when a former local GOP official named Danny Gray met with Murphy to ask him if Walter Jones, who had planned to retire in 2020 but died in February, had intended to support Murphy in what would have been an open-seat race to succeed him. According to The Daily Advance, Murphy replied, “He did,” adding, “He was going to endorse me next year.”
Murphy also said that last year, Jones had offered up his support at a meeting in D.C. attended by several North Carolina GOP congressmen, including Rep. David Rouzer. A spokesperson for Rouzer, who has not taken sides in next month’s runoff, told the paper he could “confirm this” account and added, “It was clearly understood that Rep. Jones liked Dr. Murphy and hoped his colleagues would get to know him.”
However, Gray, the local party official, very much did not believe Jones’ version of events. He told the Advance that he’d responded by telling Murphy that he’d recently spoken to Joe Anne Jones, and that she’d said that her husband didn’t intend to endorse anyone. Gray went on to tell the paper that he believed Murphy had “lied” about the congressman’s wishes, saying he planned to vote for Perry.
Two senior members of Murphy’s team in turn claimed they’d heard directly from Jones that he wanted Murphy to succeed him. Referring to these two staffers, the Advance said, “They also expressed outrage and offense at Jones' support being made an issue, warning it could drag the late congressman's grieving family into the campaign.”
Well, that’s what happened, but maybe not in the way that Murphy expected. On Thursday, when Joe Anne Jones held her press conference with Perry, she declared she wanted “clear up some misconceptions of Walter Jones’ endorsement of anyone for the 3rd Congressional District.” Jones went on to say, “He thought it was very unwise for anyone to ever endorse someone else in the primary when one day you might have to face that half of the electorate you just stirred up.”
Jones maintained that she was also not endorsing in this race, and she did actually include a few nice words for Murphy. She noted that he had been her husband’s surgeon, saying, “I’ll always be grateful to him for saving his life.” However, Jones immediately continued, “But that doesn’t have anything to do with Congress. This is a whole different show.” By contrast, Jones called Perry a “dear friend” and compared her to her husband. Jones declared, “They’re kindred spirits. Nothing came to Walter more strongly than his faith in God. She’s the same type of person.”
Back in April, Murphy led Perry 23-15 in the first round of the primary. State Rep. Phil Shepard took third place with 12%, and according to the Perry campaign, he’ll be appearing with her Friday for what will be an endorsement.
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