Brian Murray already has won one critical election against Brad Benson, his rival in the Sept. 14 primary election. That was when Republican precinct committee members picked him to succeed former state Sen. Jim West, who was stepping down to take office as mayor of Spokane.

They favored Murray, West’s youthful legislative aide, over Benson despite the latter’s greater experience as a four-term state representative from the 6th Legislative District. It helped, of course, that Murray had the active support of West, whom 6th District voters had been sending to Olympia for more than 20 years.

That support – and the confidence that precinct leaders placed in it – should not be minimized in sizing up the current campaign. West had the savvy and respect to rise to the top leadership rungs in the Senate, finishing his career as majority leader. And while his judgment isn’t enough, on its own, to justify endorsement of Murray, it more than offsets any concerns that Murray is too green to match the more seasoned Benson’s readiness for the job.

This is a primary election, not a general. Voters will be choosing the candidate they think is best-suited to represent the Republican Party on Nov. 2 against the unopposed Democratic candidate, Laurie Dolan. We think, as West apparently does, that Murray is the better choice.

Young he may be, but his time as aide to the Senate majority leader gave him valuable insights into what the job takes.

As fellow Republicans, Murray and Benson don’t differ much when it comes down to many significant issues. They both want to support policies that will encourage good jobs in the Spokane area. Both want to keep state spending and regulation in check.

But there are nuances that should be explored, and here Benson’s experience – and record – do matter. For example, while public education in Washington must be held more accountable, Benson has been an excessively harsh critic. His support for a voucher system, rejected by state voters, would deplete the already thin state resources available to public schools.

At one time he advocated chopping districts such as Spokane and Mead into smaller mini-districts, a step that would have undermined administrative efficiency.

Murray has shown himself more open-minded. He tried to provide state scholarships for first-year teachers pursuing continuing education. He also worked for funding that meant an additional $1.5 million for Spokane schools.

In health care, as in education, Murray has a pragmatic approach, favoring investment in preventive strategies such as diabetes screening, which could avoid costly treatment later on.

Where his inexperience shows through — or at least did in our interview with him — is his tendency to gloss over issues with platitudes and phrases instead of details and explanations.

Benson, meanwhile, deserves credit for the stand he took on behalf of underpaid home-care workers who sought the right to engage in collective bargaining to achieve more livable wages. That put him at odds with other House Republicans.

This is the same lawmaker, however, who once said he would put partisanship above constituent interest and vote against measures he supported on behalf of his district if that’s what it took to preserve solidarity of the Republican caucus.

Murray’s youth notwithstanding, we think a Murray-Dolan contest would provide the 6th District with a better set of choices in November.