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Republican Andrew Murray will be Mecklenburg County's first new District Attorney in 36 years. Murray beat city councilman Michael Barnes 52 to 48 percent. In his acceptance speech, he pledged to keep politics out of the office. "I'm going to give every bit of blood, sweat and tears I have to make certain that I protect this community along with an incredible team of assistant DAs to the best of our ability," said Murray. Murray has served as a defense attorney for thirteen years. Before that he worked under current DA Peter Gilchrist as an assistant DA. He's praised Gilchrist's work, but during the campaign he criticized what he considers to be a lack of transparency from him. Last night, Murray assured his supporters he'll change that. "The veil around the DA's office is coming off," said Murray. "We're going to be out with the division chiefs. We're going to be out with everyone and making certain that the public understands our challenges, our successes, what we're doing well, and what we need to do better on." Murray wants prosecutors to go out in the community as liaisons, but continue to work cases as part of specialized assistant DA teams.