[1] In August 1942, Murray received the Democratic nomination for the Jackson-based 8th Congressional District, which in those days was tantamount to election in most of Tennessee.

He was a signatory to the 1956 Southern Manifesto that opposed the desegregation of public schools ordered by the Supreme Court in Brown v. Board of Education.

Early in his career, Murray was considered to be a close colleague of Memphis political "boss" E. H. Crump.

However, it is apparent that Murray developed a considerable amount of clout in his own right, as he was re-elected six times after Crump's death in 1954.

He ran for a 13th term in 1966, but was defeated in the Democratic primary by a future governor of Tennessee, then-State Representative Ray Blanton.