9th District hopeful holds listening sessions 9th District hopeful Murphy holds Bristol listening sessions

BRISTOL, Va. - New 9th Congressional District candidate Adam Murphy made his first campaign appearance Thursday afternoon in Bristol, listening to the ideas of residents and introducing himself to voters.

Murphy, 30, of Roanoke County, is seeking the Democrat nomination to try to unseat U.S. Rep. Morgan Griffith, R-Salem, in the November 2026 general election.

Griffith has served in the House of Representatives since January 2011.

A software developer currently working in the reinsurance industry, Murphy relocated to Virginia about two years ago after living in southern Illinois.

"My wife and I looked all around the United States, we happen to both be IT workers," Murphy said. "Over the course of about five years we visited Roanoke several times and we liked it. You have the mountains, people are super nice ... people here are incredibly kind ... We've been calling Southwest Virginia home for a couple years, and this is where we'll be the rest of our lives."

The campaign marks Murphy's first bid for public office, but he said he wants to make a difference.

"The America we've entered seems to be in decline and it's seemingly only getting worse," he said. "There are so many cracks in our system and so many people are falling through them ... I haven't been alive in other times in America's history but, for as long as I've been alive, this is the worst its ever been."

He considers the economy the greatest challenge facing most people.

Murphy said he has historically been a political independent.

"I'm not a very strong Democrat. I was an independent leaning Democrat," he said. "You can consider our campaign running to change the very concept of what the Democratic Party means and represents. I don't want to be a party that represents corporations or corporate interests or some party line. I want it to be a party that represents the American people and their future first.

"A big part about why I am running is I am concerned about the future we are heading into," he said. "I was tired of waiting for the right candidate - for someone to check all the boxes, who said the right stuff - who I was afraid was going to capitulate to some party line or 'money says I can't say those words'."

Murphy's platform will be based on trying to restore the American dream.

"We want to go back to being the best country. We can achieve that, but it requires us to all move one way ... We cannot accept the strategies of the past; it's time for something new," he said.

The candidate pledges to carefully filter who his campaign accepts funds from. He plans to reject funds from all super pacs and most corporate donors. Support from nonprofits will be "considered acceptable," but would return other corporate donations.

"I want it to be, very much, a volunteer, small dollar-driven campaign driven by grass roots people who want change, not by corporations demanding top down adherence to their policies," Murphy said.

The candidate is especially concerned about how emerging artificial intelligence technology can impact the nation and its workforce.

"We have AI on the horizon and our society is not even remotely ready to handle the potential loss of thousands of jobs," Murphy said. "If half of America was unemployed, what would we do? I've worked with people who've already had their jobs changed and removed because of AI. Computer stuff will go first but it will eventually hit physical labor jobs."

He supports green energy, believes that LGBTQ and transgender issues are "100% important" and that those groups are "under attack."

He said all men, women and children are created equal and endowed by their creator the right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness but the economy is the greatest challenge for everyone.