Texas Border Business
Saving Fire Station #2 inspired Mark to run for District #5 City Commissioner. He believes public safety should be a top priority of city government.
Mark is a firm believer in public service over personal ambition. He wants more transparency in city government. He believes voters should determine whether term limits are necessary. If elected, he wants to be the Commissioner who responds to constituents’ needs. Mark wants to work for the benefit of “All”, not just special interests.
Mark Murray has been employed as an Assistant Professor of Political Science at South Texas College for 13 ½ years, where he teaches American Government and Texas Politics.
His education is extensive. He attended the University of Kentucky from 1997 to 2002 as a Ph.D. candidate in Political Science where he specialized in Transnational Politics with emphases in
International Political Economy and Latin American Politics. His research involved whether Regional Trading Blocs were trade creating or trade diverting.
He also studied at the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) at the University of Michigan in the summer of 1998 focusing on Maximum Likelihood Estimation, Advanced Maximum Likelihood Estimation, Regression Analysis, Time-Series Analysis and Advanced Time-Series Analysis.
He received his Master’s degree in Political Science from San Diego State University in 1997, where he specialized in Cross-national Politics with an emphasis in Latin American Politics. His Master’s Thesis is entitled Privatization in Mexico and Russia: A Comparative Analysis.
He received his Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from California State University, Fullerton in 1993 and his Associate’s degree from Saddleback College in 1990.
Mark Murray has also been involved in various leadership positions at South Texas College (STC). He served as senator in the STC Faculty Senate from 2007 to 2009. He served as STC Faculty Senate President-Elect from 2009 to 2011, STC Faculty Senate President from 2011 to 2013 and STC Faculty Senate Past President from 2013 to 2015. He presently serves as a senator in the STC Faculty Senate. He has also been the Committee Chair for the STC Faculty Senate Constitution Committee and Elections Committee from 2007 to the present.
He has also served in leadership positions for a statewide organization. He served as a member of the Texas Community College Teachers’ Association’s (TCCTA) Legislative Committee from 2015 to 2016 and as a member of the TCCTA Membership Services Committee in 2016. He currently serves as the TCCTA Membership Services Committee Chair.
Mark is also a member of the Texas Faculty Association (TFA) and the National Education Association (NEA).
He has also been active in local charitable organizations, such as Operation Interdependence (for Veterans) and the McAllen Guns ‘N Hoses (McAllen Police and Firefighters) Benevolent Fund. He is, also, the Co-Captain for his Neighborhood Watch program.
Mark Murray was instrumental in creating the movement to Save Fire Station #2. When Fire Station #2 was at risk of being removed from its current location, he, with help from his wife, friends and neighbors, gathered over 250 signature to save the station. The petition was submitted to the McAllen City Commission Workshop in January of 2018.
He has been happily married to his wife, Irma (Moreno) Murray, for 10 years. He has a step daughter (Chrystale) and a grandson (Jasson).
