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For other people named Chris Murphy (disambiguation), see Chris Murphy (disambiguation) (disambiguation).
Chris Murphy
United States Senator-elect
from Connecticut
Assuming office
January 3, 2013
SucceedingJoe Lieberman
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Connecticut's 5th district
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 3, 2007
Preceded byNancy Johnson
Succeeded byElizabeth Esty
Member of the Connecticut Senate
from the 16th district
In office
January 3, 2003 – January 3, 2007
Preceded bySteve Somma
Succeeded bySam Caligiuri
Member of the Connecticut House of Representatives
from the 81st district
In office
January 3, 1999 – January 3, 2003
Preceded byAngelo Fusco
Succeeded byBruce Zalaski
Personal details
Born
Christopher Scott Murphy

(1973-08-03) August 3, 1973 (age 51)
White Plains, New York, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
Alma materWilliams College
University of Connecticut, Hartford
WebsiteHouse website

Christopher Scott "Chris" Murphy (born August 3, 1973) is the U.S. Representative for Connecticut's 5th congressional district, serving since 2007, and the United States Senator-elect for the state of Connecticut. He is a member of the Democratic Party. Before being elected to the House, he previously served in the Connecticut House of Representatives and the Connecticut Senate.

Early life, education, and career

Murphy is a son of Scott L. Murphy and Catherine Murphy (née Lewczyk). His father is the managing partner of Shipman & Goodwin, a law firm in Hartford, and his mother is a retired ESL teacher from the Hamner Elementary School in Wethersfield. Murphy has one younger sister, Susannah, and one younger brother, Ben.[1][2] He is of Irish and Polish descent.[3]

Murphy is a graduate of Wethersfield High School, Williams College, and the University of Connecticut School of Law. From 1994 to 1995, he attended Exeter College, Oxford, through a Williams program in which students from the school study at Exeter for an academic year. During his time at Oxford, Murphy played quarterback for the Oxford Cavaliers American football team. He interned for U.S. Senator Chris Dodd, whom Murphy called "a giant, both professionally and personally".[4] In 1996, Murphy was campaign manager for Charlotte Koskoff's near-upset campaign against Nancy Johnson in 1996 (a decade later he would unseat Johnson himself). From 1997 to 1998 he worked for Connecticut State Senate Majority Leader George Jepsen. Murphy was first elected to office in 1997, when he won a seat on the Planning and Zoning Commission in Southington.

Connecticut Legislature

In 1998, aged 25, Murphy ran against and unseated 14-year incumbent Angelo M. Fusco, being elected to the Connecticut House of Representatives from the 81st district. After serving two terms, Murphy ran and was elected to the Connecticut State Senate at age 29, representing the 16th district. Before being elected to the Senate, his seat had been held by a Republican for over a decade. Murphy was appointed Chair of the Public Health Committee, and also chaired the state task force looking into the re-importation of prescription drugs from Canada.[5]

In 2005, Murphy authored legislation establishing the new Office of Child Protection to better coordinate advocacy for abused and neglected children.[6] Murphy also wrote Public Act 05-149, an act permitting stem-cell research while prohibiting human cloning.[7] The act, signed into law by Governor M. Jodi Rell made Connecticut the third state in the nation to permit taxpayer-subsidized stem-cell research.[8]

U.S. House of Representatives

Murphy campaigning for then Senator Barack Obama in 2008.

Elections

Murphy chose not to run for re-election to the State Senate in order to seek the U.S. House seat then held by Republican Nancy Johnson. In order to challenge Johnson, Murphy moved from Southington to Cheshire.[9] Murphy was elected in 2006 with 56% to 44%, defeating Johnson by a margin of about 22,000 votes. Murphy was re-elected again in 2008 and 2010 with 60 and 54% respectively.

Tenure

Murphy has received scores of 95% and 100% from the Americans for Democratic Action, as well as 100% scores from various labor unions for his Congressional work. He has received low scores from conservative groups such as the Club for Growth, the American Conservative Union, FreedomWorks, and the National Taxpayers Union.[10]

Ethics reform

Upon taking office, one of Murphy's first actions was calling for reform of the House of Representatives' internal ethics oversight system,[citation needed] . Murphy organized a group of freshmen House members in May 2007 to support the creation of an independent, non-partisan ethics panel to review complaints made against Members of Congress.[11] . Murphy played a formative role in shaping the independent Office of Congressional Ethics, which was passed into law by the House in March 2008.[12]

Murphy has sponsored a bill that would subject Supreme Court Justices to the same ethical code that applies to other federal judges, suggested in 2011 the possibility of an investigation to decide whether Justice Clarence Thomas had committed ethical violations that would justify removing him from office. The matter in question was Thomas's connection to Harlan Crow and other supporters of the Republican Party.[13] Murphy circulated a draft letter to other members of Congress asking the House Judiciary Committee leadership to hold a hearing on the Supreme Court Transparency and Disclosure Act, which would end the Supreme Court’s immunity to judicial ethics laws.[14]

Contractors operating overseas

As a member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Murphy was highly critical of for-profit government contractors operating in Iraq, which functioned with little government oversight and scrutiny. He introduced and successfully passed into law the "Government Funding Transparency Act of 2008" which required private companies that do the majority of their businesses with the federal government to publicly disclose their top executives' salaries.[15]

Response to Cheshire home invasion

Two home invasions occurred in Murphy's district in 2007 and early 2008; the former, in Cheshire was especially brutal, involving the rape and murder of a mother and her two young daughters, which gained national attention. In response, Murphy proposed making home invasion a federal crime.[16] Previously he had not endorsed a Three Strikes bill and was on record opposing such a law on the federal level.[17]

New Haven - Springfield Amendment

Murphy has been a proponent of the proposed New Haven-Hartford-Springfield Commuter Rail Line, an effort to use existing railroad tracks owned by Amtrak to provide daily commuter service on par with Southwestern Connecticut's MetroNorth service into New York. In 2008, he successfully passed an amendment to rail legislation making it easier for Amtrak and the state of Connecticut to cooperate on the rail project.[18]

"Billy's Law"

Murphy has proposed reforms of the nation's 'missing-persons' databases, introducing "Billy's Law" in 2009 to improve coordination of law-enforcement efforts to locate missing persons. The legislation was named in honor of Billy Smolinski, Jr., a one-time resident of Mr. Murphy's district who disappeared in 2004.[19]

Committee assignments

Political positions

Terrorism

Murphy has called for the closure of the Guantanamo Bay detention camp.[20] In February 2011, Murphy voted to extend provisions of the Patriot Act.[21]

Filibuster

In December 2007, Murphy made a remark on National Public Radio, declaring the United States Senate "a threat to democracy as we know it; they cannot bring any of these measures to a vote, the filibusters threatened by the Republicans hold up much of the work of the House." Murphy, however, opposed the FISA eavesdropping bill supported by the White House and passed by the House of Representatives, and endorsed the ultimately unsuccessful filibuster of this bill by Senator Christopher Dodd.[22]

Environment

Murphy is a strong supporter of environmental protection, scoring 100% on the League of Conservation Voters' congressional scorecards in both 2007 and 2008.[23][24] A member of the House Energy & Commerce Committee, Murphy played a role in the writing of the House Bill to institute energy-reform legislation to modernize the national energy strategy in order to combat climate change.

Supportive housing

Murphy supports reform of federal supportive housing programs, which assist low-income people with severe disabilities. In 2008, the House of Representatives passed the "Frank Melville Supportive Housing Investment Act", which Murphy authored to modernize and streamline Section 811, which governs federal supportive housing grants.[25]

Offshore drilling

In August 2008, Murphy sent a letter to House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer expressing support for increased oil drilling as part of a bipartisan energy bill. In October 2008, Murphy's opponent, David Cappiello charged Murphy with flip-flopping on energy issues.[26]

Healthcare

In 2009, Murphy helped draft HR 3200, the House health-care reform bill. Murphy defended his role in supporting the bill at a contentious town hall meeting in Simsbury in August 2009.[27][28]

A long-time supporter of health-insurance reform, Murphy is a strong proponent of the public option, which entails the creation of an independent government-sponsored health-insurance plan to compete with private companies. Murphy has argued that such a plan would not require government financing and would help to introduce competition into monopolized health-insurance markets and help bring down costs.[29]

When singer Justin Bieber said in an interview with Rolling Stone that he admired the health-care system in his native Canada, Murphy sent a tweet to The Huffington Post, expressing approval of Bieber's comments. Shortly thereafter Murphy noticed that Bieber, in the same interview, opposes against abortion, so Murphy sent out another tweet to distance himself from the teen's position on that issue.[30]

LGBT rights

During his tenure in the State Senate, Murphy was one of the first ten co-sponsors of a civil union bill that passed the General Assembly in 2005. On his Senate campaign website, Murphy summarized his stance, "Let me be clear and simple: LGBT rights are human rights. Marriage equality and nondiscrimination in the military, workplace, classroom and healthcare system, based on real or perceived sexual orientation and gender identity, are civil rights that must be protected under law."[31]

All American Muslim

When Lowe's chose to withdraw advertising from the television program All American Muslim, Murphy said, "This is a major American company rubber stamping basic foundational bigotry against a major American religious group ... This country was founded on the premise of religious freedom and this body should never remain silent when a group of people is marginalized just because they worship a different God." [32]

2012 Senate election

Main article: United States Senate election in Connecticut, 2012

Murphy announced on January 20, 2011, that he would run for the Senate seat held by Joe Lieberman, who is retiring. It was announced in mid-July that a group spearheaded by a state Capitol lobbyist was forming a Super PAC for his campaign, hoping to raise $1 million dollars to combat a possible opponent.[33]

Murphy defeated former Connecticut Secretary of State Susan Bysiewicz in the Democratic primary and defeated 2010 Republican candidate Linda McMahon in the general election.[34][35] After McMahon's negative ads left Murphy "on the defensive virtually nonstop" and struggling to respond, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee sent additional staff and money to Murphy to help with his campaign, saying they are "100 percent behind [him]."[36]

Personal life

Chris Murphy and his wife Cathy (née Catherine Holahan), have two children.

Financial problems

Murphy has been sued for nonpayment of his mortgage and non-payment of rent. He has also failed to pay taxes when due on several occasions.[37]

In 2007, Chase Home Finance sued for foreclosure against Murphy, whose campaign initially responded to media reports about the foreclosure by claiming that Murphy had missed "a couple of mortgage payments." Murphy soon retracted this claim and said that he missed a "handful" of payments, but when confronted by the Hartford Courant refused to say if the number of missed payments was less than six. Murphy claims that he did not know he was in default until legal proceedings started. Murphy received a loan at the rate of 4.99% from Webster Bank in 2008 to consolidate his previous mortgages after being sued for foreclosure. One of the loans consolidated was a previous second mortgage from Webster Bank. At this time, the banking industry was generally tightening lending standards. The foreclosure proceedings against Murphy, although never completed, almost certainly lowered his credit score.[37]

At the time of this loan from Webster, Murphy was serving on the House Financial Services Committee. In 2008, Webster Bank's political action committee made numerous donations to Murphy's campaign. in 2005 and 2006, Murphy worked for Webster as an attorney. In 2008, Murphy voted for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). Webster Bank received $400 million under TARP in 2009. Murphy's 2012 opponent in his Senate campaign, Linda McMahon, accused him of receiving what she called "special interest loans." McMahon called on Murphy to release his financial records. Bank officials and outside experts claim there was nothing improper about the loans made to Murphy.[38][39][37]

Murphy paid a $1,890 property tax bill four months late in 2005. Seven times from 1998 to 2005 Murphy paid his car taxes late. When questioned on his late payment of taxes by the Hartford Courant, Murphy blamed the previous owner of his home for the property tax issue. He was forced to retract this statement two days later when the Courant proved it to be false. Murphy was sued for nonpayment of rent by his landlord while serving as a state senator.[37]

During a Senate campaign debate in 2012, Murphy apologized for his past financial problems. Murphy said “I’m not perfect. I made these mistakes and I fixed them. The point is, everyone who has looked into these allegations (of getting a special deal on a line of credit) has found they are completely false."[38][37]

Electoral history

2006

Main article: United States House of Representatives elections in Connecticut, 2006#District 5

Connecticut's 5th Congressional District election, 2006[40]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Chris Murphy 122,980WF 56.46
Republican Nancy L. Johnson (incumbent) 94,824 43.54
Total votes 217,804 100
Democratic gain from Republican

Note: Murphy also ran on the line of the Connecticut Working Families Party in the election, and received 5,794 of his votes on it. His Democratic and Working Families totals have been aggregated to reach 122,980.

2008

Main article: United States House of Representatives elections in Connecticut, 2008#District 5

Connecticut's 5th congressional district election, 2008[41]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Chris Murphy (incumbent)[A] 179,327 59.9
Republican David Cappiello 117,914 39.4
Independent Thomas L. Winn 3,082 1.0
Green Harold H. Burbank II 2,324 0.8
Write-In Walter Gengarelly 10 0.0
Total votes 299,575 100.00
Democratic hold

Note:Includes 18,149 votes from the Working Families Party line, which endorsed Murphy on a fusion ticket.[42]

2010

Main article: United States House of Representatives elections in Connecticut, 2010#District 5

Connecticut's 5th congressional district election, 2010 [43]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Sam S. F. Caligiuri 104,402 45.93
Democratic Chris Murphy 122,879 54.06
Write-In Elmon Smith 2 <0.1
Write-In John Pistone 20 <0.1
Total votes 227,303 100
Democratic hold

Note: Murphy also appeared on the line of the Connecticut Working Families Party and received 4,648 votes on it. His Working Families and Democratic votes have been aggregated together on this table. Caligiuri also appeared on the independent line and received 2,310 votes on it. His independent and Republican votes have been aggregated together on this table.

2012

Main article: United States Senate election in Connecticut, 2012

United States Senate election in Connecticut, 2012
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Linda McMahon
Democratic Chris Murphy
Libertarian Paul Passarelli
Majority
Turnout

References

  1. ^ "Lewczyk. John A. Lewczyk". Articles.courant.com. Retrieved 2010-07-11.
  2. ^ "Catherine Holahan and Christopher Murphy". The New York Times. 2007-08-19.
  3. ^ http://articles.courant.com/2011-10-24/news/hc-chris-murphy-ctsen-20111024_1_congressman-chris-murphy-general-election-sam-caligiuri
  4. ^ "Statement: Rep. Chris Murphy". Wfsb.com. 2010-01-06. Retrieved 2010-07-11.
  5. ^ "What the Freshman Offer". Eye on FDA. November 14, 2006. Retrieved October 29, 2012.
  6. ^ "Chris Murphy". Your Public Media. Retrieved October 29, 2012.
  7. ^ Don C. Reed (July 12, 2012). "Racing for Senate in a Stem Cell State: Murphy and McMahon". The Huffington Post. Retrieved October 29, 2012.
  8. ^ "U.S. Congressman Chris Murphy Receives Graduate of the Last Decade Award". Farmington Patch. June 28, 2011. Retrieved October 29, 2012.
  9. ^ Mark Pazniokas (September 14, 2012). "Murphy refuses to release credit score, loan documents". The CT Mirror. Retrieved October 29, 2012.
  10. ^ "Project Vote Smart - Representative Christopher S. 'Chris' Murphy - Interest Group Ratings". Votesmart.org. 2010-05-14. Retrieved 2010-07-11.
  11. ^ "Murphy leads Congress freshmen against scandal - The New Britain Herald New Britain : New Britain, Conn., and surrounding areas". newbritainherald.com. 2007-05-17. Retrieved 2010-07-11.
  12. ^ "Murphy praises pass of ethics bill - The New Britain Herald Past Stories : New Britain, Conn., and surrounding areas". newbritainherald.com. Retrieved 2010-07-11.
  13. ^ Millhiser, Ian. "EXCLUSIVE: Rep. Murphy Says Thomas' Actions Call Into Question Whether He 'Can Continue To Serve As A Justice'". Think Progress. Retrieved 10 March 2012.
  14. ^ Millhiser, Ian. "Rep. Chris Murphy: Thomas Gift Scandal 'Undermine[s] The Integrity of The Entire Judiciary'". Think Progress. Retrieved 10 March 2012.
  15. ^ "H.R. 3928 (110th): Government Funding Transparency Act of 2008". Retrieved Sep 14, 2012.
  16. ^ Three strikes law[dead link]
  17. ^ Three strikes law proposal
  18. ^ Thursday, June 12, 2008 By JO-ANN MORIARTY (2008-06-12). "House of Representatives approves $14 billion high-speed rail bill to connect Washington, D.C., and New York City". MassLive.com. Retrieved 2010-07-11.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  19. ^ "Murphy to propose Billy's Law to help find missing adults | WTNH.com Connecticut". Wtnh.com. Retrieved 2010-07-11.
  20. ^ "Project Vote Smart - Representative Murphy on H Amdt 197 - Guantanamo Transfer Plan". Votesmart.org. 2007-05-17. Retrieved 2010-07-11.
  21. ^ "Final Vote Results for Roll Call 26". house.gov. 2011-02-08. Retrieved 2011-02-08.
  22. ^ by thirdparty (2008-06-20). "ACTION: Thank CT House Dems For FISA Vote". Daily Kos. Retrieved 2010-07-11.
  23. ^ http://lcv.org/scorecard/2007.pdf
  24. ^ http://www.lcv.org/2008-pdf.pdf
  25. ^ "Congressman wants more supportive housing - Connecticut Post". Ctpost.com. 2008-06-23. Retrieved 2010-07-11.
  26. ^ By DANIELA ALTIMARI October 6, 2008 (2008-10-06). "Congressman Chris Murphy Faces His First Race As An Incumbent". Courant.com. Retrieved 2010-07-11.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  27. ^ "Getting An Earful". Courant.com. 2009-08-06. Retrieved 2010-07-11.
  28. ^ "Chris Murphy meets "the mob" in Simsbury, CT". The Next Right. 2009-08-17. Retrieved 2010-07-11.
  29. ^ Moore, George (2009-08-17). "Opinions differ on public option with local politicians". Myrecordjournal.com. Retrieved 2010-07-11.
  30. ^ Beaulieu, Scott. Fever-116467398.html "Rep. Murphy's Case of Bieber Fever". NBC Connecticut. Retrieved 10 March 2012. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help)
  31. ^ Wing, Nick. "Chris Murphy's US Senate Campaign Issues section". Chris Murphy for Senate campaign. Retrieved 28 July 2012.
  32. ^ Wing, Nick. "Lowe's 'All-American Muslim' Advertising Decision Blasted By Democrats". Huffington Post. Retrieved March 10, 2012.
  33. ^ Haigh, Susan (July 16, 2012). "Pro-Murphy super PAC created in Conn. Senate race". Associated Press.
  34. ^ applebome, Peter (6-11-2012). "Murphy Defeats McMahon After Bitter U.S. Senate Race in Connecticut". New York Times. Retrieved 7-11-2012. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  35. ^ O’Leary, Mary (20-8-2012). "Murphy, McMahon post decisive wins in primary election". The Litchfield News. Retrieved 22-8-2012. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  36. ^ "Democrats sweating Connecticut Senate race". Politico. 18 September 2012.
  37. ^ a b c d e O'Grady, Mary Anastasia (September 26, 2012). "Chris Murphy's 'I Forgot' Defense". Politcal Diary (The Wall Streeet Journal). Retrieved October 23, 2012.
  38. ^ a b "Linda McMahon-Chris Murphy Senate debate: sparks fly over TV ads". New Haven Register. October 7, 2012. Retrieved October 23, 2012. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  39. ^ Altimari (October 11, 2012). "Linda McMahon And Chris Murphy Clash At UConn". courant.com. Retrieved 23 October 2012. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |firsy= ignored (help)
  40. ^ "Vote for Representatives in Congress 2006". Connecticut Secretary of the State. Retrieved August 21, 2010.
  41. ^ "11/04/2008 General Election results for Representative in Congress" (PDF). State of Connecticut Secretary of the State. Retrieved 20 January 2009.
  42. ^ "2008 WFP Endorsement List". Connecticut Working Families Party. Retrieved 20 January 2009. [dead link]
  43. ^ "Election Results for Representative in Congress". State of Connecticut, Secretary of the State. Retrieved December 29, 2010.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Chris Murphy.
U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Connecticut's 5th congressional district
2007–present 		Incumbent
Party political offices
Preceded by Democratic nominee for Senator from Connecticut
(Class 1)
2012 		Most recent
U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial)
Preceded by United States Representatives by seniority
280th 		Succeeded by

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