Patrick Murphy (Pennsylvania politician)

For the Iowa politician of the same name, see Pat Murphy (Iowa politician).

For the Richland Township, Pennsylvania candidate for Supervisor, see Patrick Murphy For Supervisor

Patrick Murphy
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania's 8th district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 4, 2007
Preceded by	Mike Fitzpatrick
Personal details
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Jennifer Safford Murphy

Patrick Joseph Murphy (born October 19, 1973) is the Congressman from Pennsylvania's 8th congressional district, an American lawyer, and a U.S. Army soldier. Patrick Murphy is the first, and to date, only veteran of the Iraq War to serve in Congress, and he was awarded the Bronze Star.

Murphy was the Democratic candidate in the 2006 election for Pennsylvania's 8th congressional district, narrowly defeating Republican incumbent Mike Fitzpatrick, a freshman Republican.

Early life and education

Murphy was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the Northeast Philadelphia area. [1]

Patrick Murphy graduated from Archbishop Ryan High School in Northeast Philadelphia. After attending Bucks County Community College, he went to King's College, Pennsylvania in Wilkes-Barre, where he was a cadet in the U.S. Army ROTC and was captain of the hockey team and student body president. After graduating in 1996 with a double major, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Army. [2]

Military and legal career

Murphy attended law school at the Widener University in Harrisburg, where he became a member of the Trial Advocacy Honor Society and president of the St. Thomas More Society. He then began working in the office of the district attorney of Philadelphia, and later as a leader in the Harrisburg Civil Law Clinic, a legal aid society serving the poor. He also served as the legislative aide to Thomas Tangretti, a Democratic member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from Westmoreland County. Murphy has taught American politics and government at Mount Saint Mary's University and constitutional law at the U.S. Military Academy (West Point), and has also lectured at the U.S. Air Force Academy, the International Institute for Humanitarian Rights in Sanremo, Italy, and at Widener.

After working as an instructor at West Point, Murphy deployed overseas twice, serving in Bosnia (2002) and in Baghdad during the Iraq War (2003–2004). While in Baghdad as a paratrooper and JAG Corps attorney with the U.S. 82nd Airborne Division, Murphy worked to reconstruct the justice system and helped prosecute Sheik Moyad, a lieutenant of Muqtada al-Sadr. [3] Murphy earned the Bronze Star Medal for his seven months of service in Iraq. [4]

Murphy returned to Pennsylvania after his tour in Iraq, and married Jennifer Safford on June 17, 2006. Their first child, a daughter, was born shortly after his Congressional victory. The family now lives in the Edgely section of Bristol Township, Pennsylvania.

Congressional career

In 2005, Murphy decided to challenge Republican incumbent Representative Mike Fitzpatrick in Pennsylvania's 8th congressional district as a Fighting Dem, building his campaign around "Murphy Plans" for Iraq, ethics reform, online protection, and a GI Bill of Rights. [5]

On May 16, 2006, he won the Democratic primary with about 65% of the vote [6], against Andrew Warren, a former county commissioner and ex-Republican who badly trailed Murphy in campaign funds. [7]

Polls taken in October, 2006, generally showed a tight race between Murphy and Fitzpatrick: A poll by Grove Insight (a Democratic polling firm) showed Murphy leading 44% to 40%, a mid-October poll by Global Strategies Group (another Democratic polling firm) showed Murphy leading 45% to 43%, a late October poll by Global Strategies Group showed Murphy leading 46% to 41%, a poll by Constituent Dynamics showed Murphy leading 50% to 47%, and a poll by Muhlenberg College showed Murphy trailing 47% to 42%. [8] A sixth poll, by Franklin and Marshall, showed Murphy trailing 48% to 39%, but was flawed by the inadvertent inclusion of a third candidate who was not on the ballot. [9]

On election day, Murphy's campaign, led by campaign manager Scott Fairchild, engaged in a massive get-out-the-vote effort, with over 1000 volunteers knocking on 160,000 doors. [10] The resulting high turnout in Democratic lower Bucks County and Philadelphia, combined with surprisingly strong returns for Murphy in Republican upper Bucks County, was enough to push Murphy over Fitzpatrick 125,656 to 124,138. Murphy narrowly lost the Bucks County portion of the district (116,669 to 115,645), but decisively won the Philadelphia County portion (6,024 to 5,048) and the Montgomery County portion (3,987 to 2,421). [11] and [12]

Murphy serves on the House Armed Services Committee and is the only freshman on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. [13] Murphy is a member of the Blue Dog Coalition, a group of Democratic representatives known for being fiscally and socially moderate.

Congressman Murphy opposed President Bush's plan to add more troops to the Iraq War in 2007. He was a cosponsor, with Senator Barack Obama and Congressman Mike Thompson (D-CA) of the Iraq War De-Escalation Act of 2007, which aimed to stop the troop addition and develop a plan to redeploy American troops from Iraq starting May 1, 2007.

Murphy is of no relation to Lois Murphy, unsuccessful 2006 Democratic candidate in the nearby 6th congressional district, to Rep. Tim Murphy of the 18th congressional district, to Rep. Chris Murphy of Connecticut's 5th congressional district, or to current candidate for Richland Township, Pennsylvania Supervisor of the same name, Patrick Murphy.

References

• GOP restructuring of PA's 8th District

See also

• Notable U.S. House elections, 2006 — Pennsylvania

External links

• Patrick Murphy For Congress official campaign site
• U.S. Congressman Patrick Murphy official House site
• United States Congress. "Patrick Murphy (id: m001168)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• Federal Election Commission — Patrick J Murphy campaign finance reports and data
• On the Issues — Patrick Murphy issue positions and quotes
• OpenSecrets.org — Patrick J. Murphy campaign contributions
• Project Vote Smart — Representative Patrick J. Murphy (PA) profile
• SourceWatch Congresspedia — Patrick Murphy profile
• Washington Post — Congress Votes Database: Patrick Murphy voting record
• Fighting Dems for Congress