Chris Murphy (politician)

For other people of the same name, see Chris Murphy (disambiguation).

Chris Murphy
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Connecticut's 5th district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 2007
Preceded by	Nancy Johnson
Connecticut Senator from the 16th district
In office 2003–2006
Preceded by	Steve Somma[1]
Succeeded by	Sam Caligiuri
Member of the Connecticut House of Representatives from the 81st district
In office 1999–2002
Preceded by	Angelo M. Fusco[2]
Succeeded by	Bruce Zalaski
Personal details
Born	August 3, 1973 (1973-08-03) (age 38) White Plains, New York
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Cathy Holahan
Residence	Cheshire, Connecticut
Alma mater	Williams College, University of Connecticut
Occupation	attorney
Religion	Non-denominational Christian

Christopher Scott "Chris" Murphy (born August 3, 1973) is the U. S. Representative for Connecticut's 5th congressional district, serving since 2007. He is a member of the Democratic Party.

Murphy 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 of Wethersfield, Connecticut. His mother, who is retired, was a teacher of English as a second language at Hanmer Elementary School in Wethersfield. His father is the managing partner of Shipman & Goodwin, a law firm in Hartford. Murphy has one younger sister, Susannah, and one younger brother, Ben.^[3][4]

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 is employed as an attorney with the firm of Ruben, Johnson, and Morgan in Hartford.

Early political career

Murphy's first job in politics was as an intern to U.S. Senator Chris Dodd whom Murphy called "a giant, both professionally and personally" ^[5]

In 1996, Murphy was campaign manager for Charlotte Koskoff's near upset of 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 the town of Southington.

Connecticut Legislature

In 1998, at the age of 25, he unseated a 14-year incumbent to take a seat in the Connecticut House of Representatives. He served two terms there, representing the 81st House District in Southington. He was elected to the State Senate at age 29, representing the 16th District, which encompasses Southington, Cheshire, Waterbury and Wolcott. Prior to Murphy's win, that seat had been held by a Republican for well over a decade. Murphy was appointed Senate chair of the legislature's Public Health Committee, and also chaired the state task force looking into the re-importation of prescription drugs from Canada. In his term in office, Murphy worked on environmental protection issues and for juvenile justice reform.

In 2005, he authored and legislation establishing the new Office of Child Protection to better coordinate advocacy for abused and neglected children, legislation that passed.^{[citation needed]}. He also authored Public Act 05-149, an act permitting stem-cell research while prohibiting human cloning. The act, signed into law by Governor M. Jodi Rell made Connecticut the third state in the nation to allow for taxpayer-subsidized stem-cell research.

U.S. House of Representatives

Committee assignments

• Committee on Foreign Affairs
  • Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia
• Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
  • Subcommittee on Health Care, District of Columbia, Census and the National Archives
  • Subcommittee on Technology, Information Policy, Intergovernmental Relations and Procurement Reform

Murphy votes with Democratic party leadership 98% of the time.^[6] He is a liberal, receiving scores of 95% and 100% from the Americans for Democratic Action, as well as 100% scores from various labor unions for his Congressional votes. He has received low scores from conservative groups such as the Club for Growth,the American Conservative Union, FreedomWorks and the National Taxpayers Union.^[7]

Murphy aligns himself with progressives in the House. At the July 2010 Netroots Nation convention in Las Vegas Murphy urged progressives to take a long view as to their agenda, suggesting his colleagues would return to Congress "with steel in their spine" after the midterm elections.^[8]

Ethics Reform

Upon taking office, one of Murphy's first moves was to call for reform of the House of Representatives' internal ethics oversight system, which had failed to uncover numerous ethical lapses in previous congresses. Murphy organized a group of new House members in May 2007 to support the creation of an independent, non-partisan ethics panel to review complaints made against members of Congress.^[9] Murphy argued that politics and self-interest too easily influence any attempt at self-policing on the part of members of Congress. Murphy played a formative role in shaping the independent Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE), which was passed into law by the House in March 2008.^[10]

Blackwater Bill

As a member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Murphy also became highly critical of for-profit government contractors operating overseas in Iraq like Blackwater USA, who functioned with little government oversight and scrutiny. He introduced and successfully passed into law the "Government Funding Transparency Act of 2008," which requires private companies who do the majority of their businesses with the federal government to publicly disclose their top executives' salaries.^[11]

Terrorism

Murphy is an advocate of closing the terrorist detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.^[12] In February 2011, he voted to extend provisions of the USA PATRIOT act.^[13]

Position on 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.^[14]

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 and deadly, involving the rape and murders of a mother and her two young daughters and gained national attention. In response, Murphy proposed making home invasion a federal crime.^[15] Previously he had not endorsed a Three Strikes bill and was on record opposing such a law on the federal level.^[16]

New Haven - Springfield Amendment

Murphy has been a proponent of the proposed New Haven-Hartford-Springfield Commuter Rail Line, an effort to use existing train 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.^[17]

Environment

Murphy is strong supporter of environmental protection, scoring 100% on the League of Conservation Voters' congressional scorecards in both 2007 and 2008.^[18][19]

Murphy also pushed for the designation of central Connecticut's Metacomet Monadnock Mattabesett (MMM) Trail as one the National Park Service's National Scenic Trails, legislation which was enacted by Congress in early 2009.^[20] The designation provides for the protection and maintenance of the trail, while preserving its cooperatively-managed history.

Murphy also played a significant role in the preservation of Newtown, Connecticut's beloved Hawleyville Post Office, which nearly shut its doors over a long-running property dispute.^[21]

Supportive Housing

Murphy also supports reform of federal supportive housing programs, which assist low-income persons with severe disabilities. In 2008, the House of Representatives passed the Frank Melville Supportive Housing Investment Act, legislation which Murphy authored to modernize and streamline the Section 811, which governs federal supportive housing grants.^[22]

Offshore drilling

Murphy has opposed Republican efforts to expand domestic oil drilling to respond to high energy prices.^[23] 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 had flip-flopped on energy issues ^[24]

"Billy's Law"

Murphy has proposed reforms of the nation's missing persons' databases, introducing "Billy's Law" in 2009 to help better coordinate 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.^[25]

Home heating oil

As a member of the House Energy & Commerce Committee, Murphy played a role in the writing of the House's efforts to reform the health care system and institute energy reform legislation to modernize our national energy strategy to both create jobs and to combat climate change. Murphy authored and passed a portion of the House's climate bill, H.R. 2454, which would protect consumers who use home heating oil in their homes and businesses.^[26]

Health care reform of 2009

In 2009 Murphy, as a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, helped draft HR 3200, the House health care reform bill. Murphy defended his role supporting the bill at a contentious town hall meeting in Simsbury in August 2009.^[27][28]

As a long-time supporter of health insurance reform, Murphy is a strong proponent of the "public option," which entails the creation of 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]

New York Yankees

While much of the 5th District is part of the New York City Metropolitan Area in November 2009 Murphy was the only member of Congress representing the region to vote against a resolution congratulating the New York Yankees for winning the 2009 World Series.^[30]

Political campaigns

2006 campaign for the U.S. House of Representatives

See also: United States House of Representatives elections in Connecticut, 2006#District 5

Murphy left the State Senate (did not run for re-election) to seek the U.S. House seat held by Republican Nancy Johnson. In order to challenge Johnson, Murphy moved from Southington (which is in the 1st district) to Cheshire. Johnson won her 2004 election by a margin of 22%, garnering 60% of the vote to 38% for her Democratic opponent. (2% went to third-party candidates.) In 2002, Johnson faced what should have been a difficult challenge (running against a fellow incumbent in a redrawn district), but still she defeated her opponent, Congressman Jim Maloney, by a margin of nearly 10%. John Kerry won the district by about 1100 votes in 2004 and Al Gore won it when Johnson represented it as the 6th District in 2000.

New York Times endorsement

The New York Times endorsed Murphy saying

"Mr. Murphy, a lawyer, is impressive. He has spent eight years in the Connecticut House and Senate. He pushed for the state to adopt a system of campaign finance reform when he first entered the House, long before this was considered an important issue. He helped pass legislation that made it easier for the uninsured to obtain health insurance. He wants to work on the same issue in Congress. Mr. Murphy believes the war in Iraq has forced America into a false choice between war and civil liberties and has made us more vulnerable to terrorism. He advocates a timetable for withdrawal. Ms. Johnson has supported the war and has voted to continue the current open-ended commitment. We've supported Ms. Johnson in the past, but are disenchanted with her support of her leadership's radical agenda. Mr. Murphy would be a strong candidate in any race, and even against a seasoned incumbent, is impressive. He would make a superb addition to Congress. We strongly endorse his candidacy."

Johnson Wages "Nastiest Campaign in State History"

Johnson, Connecticut's longest serving representative in Congress with 12 terms in Washington, was battered by national discontent with the Republican Party and hurt by many self-inflicted wounds, including her campaign's decision to unleash a tide of negative ads against Murphy that turned her race into what many called one of the nastiest in state history.^[31]

Johnson's defeat is likely to be regarded as a repudiation of the negative ad strategy she employed against Murphy, operating out of a Republican playbook devised by national Republicans. Negative ads by Johnson portrayed Murphy as tax-happy and soft on terrorism. Her early ads were deemed effective by many observers, including ABC News, but late in the campaign she ran ads claiming Murphy coddled drug dealers and sex offenders. Newspapers such as the Hartford Courant believed these ads had a reverse effect, drawing more voters to Murphy.^{[citation needed]}

National political analyst Chuck Todd, in his last House race rankings of the cycle, stated "Johnson and Murphy have both run outstanding campaigns; Murphy should be considered a potential rising star in the Democratic Party should he pull this off." ^[32]

Controversy in the 2006 campaign: Campaign ad against Johnson

One of Murphy's ads against Johnson claimed that a mother contacted Johnson for help to get corrective surgery for her son's cleft lip and palate but was ignored by Johnson. According to Factcheck.org, this was misleading, saying the mother contacted Murphy first, but never made contact with Johnson until 3 years later. In an article titled "Johnson Attack On Ad Misfires: Murphy Commercial Is Rooted In Fact", the Hartford Courant defended Murphy's version of events while Johnson's campaign demanded that the ad be pulled^{[dead link]}.

2006 election results

Murphy won the 2006 election, defeating Johnson by a margin of about 22,000 votes, 56% to 44%; the only House incumbent to suffer a worse defeat, percentage-wise, was John Hostettler (who lost to Democrat Brad Ellsworth in Indiana). Murphy was able to defeat Johnson in spite of the fact that her campaign spent about $5 million to his $2.5 million.

The 5th District has 41 municipalities, including blue-collar cities New Britain, Torrington, Danbury, Meriden, and Waterbury (the largest city in the district), rich suburban commuter towns in the Farmington Valley and north of New Haven, and rural towns in Litchfield County. Murphy won 35 of 41 towns in the district, including many that had voted reliably for Johnson in the past. For instance, in 2004, Johnson took the town of Simsbury by a wide margin, winning 8,798 votes to just 4,246 for her Democratic opponent. In 2006, Johnson received only 5,125 votes in Simsbury to 5,774 for Murphy.

Once-Republican towns such as Kent and Goshen in Litchfield County went for Murphy, and in large cities such as Danbury and Waterbury, Murphy swamped Johnson by large margins. In Johnson's hometown of New Britain, which she had represented for 30 years at the federal and state level (she'd served in the state senate from 1977 to 1983 before moving up to Congress), Murphy beat Johnson by a two-to-one margin.

Only one public poll was taken in the race, by The Hartford Courant. That poll showed Murphy's lead at four points. The size of the eventual margin surprised many local observers; the magnitude of Murphy's win surprised both local and national analysts.

2008

See also: United States House of Representatives elections in Connecticut, 2008#District 5

Murphy defeated his opponent, Republican state Senator David Cappiello, 36-60% to earn a second term.^[33]

2010

See also: United States House of Representatives elections in Connecticut, 2010#District 5

Murphy won re-election in 2010 against Republican nominee State Senator Sam Caligiuri by a margin of 8.2%.^[34]

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 currently held by Joe Lieberman, who is retiring.^[35]

Personal life

Chris Murphy and his wife, Cathy Holahan Murphy, have one child, born in 2008. They reside in Cheshire.

References

1. ^ Fillo, Maryellen; Stannard, Charles (2002-11-01). "Proquest - Courant.com". Pqasb.pqarchiver.com. http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/courant/access/230133391.html?dids=230133391:230133391&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Nov+01%2C+2002&author=MARYELLEN+FILLO%3B+Courant+Staff+Writer%3B++Courant+Staff+Writers+Maurice+Reidy%2C+Charles+Stannard+and+Carrie+Budoff+contributed+to+this+story.&pub=Hartford+Courant&desc=GOP+STALKS+STATE+SENATE%2C+SEAT+BY+SEAT&pqatl=google. Retrieved 2010-07-11. 
2. ^ Enter your Company or Top-Level Office. "SOTS: Voting Summary 1998 - State Representatives". Ct.gov. http://www.ct.gov/sots/cwp/view.asp?a=3188&q=392496. Retrieved 2010-07-11. 
3. ^ "Lewczyk. John A. Lewczyk - Hartford Courant". Articles.courant.com. http://articles.courant.com/1997-09-12/news/9709130544_1_son-newington-wethersfield. Retrieved 2010-07-11. 
4. ^ "Catherine Holahan and Christopher Murphy". The New York Times. 2007-08-19. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/19/fashion/weddings/19HOLAHAN.html. 
5. ^ "Statement: Rep. Chris Murphy - Politics News Story - WFSB Hartford". Wfsb.com. 2010-01-06. http://www.wfsb.com/politics/22153208/detail.html. Retrieved 2010-07-11. 
6. ^ "Christopher Murphy In The News - U.S. Congress". OpenCongress. http://www.opencongress.org/people/news/412194_Christopher_Murphy. Retrieved 2010-07-11. 
7. ^ "Project Vote Smart - Representative Christopher S. 'Chris' Murphy - Interest Group Ratings". Votesmart.org. 2010-05-14. http://www.votesmart.org/issue_rating_category.php?can_id=17189. Retrieved 2010-07-11. 
8. ^ "Discouraged, progressives look beyond Obama - Politics - msnbc.com". MSNBC. 2010-07-26. http://msnbc.msn.com/id/38407169/ns/politics/. Retrieved 2010-10-28. 
9. ^ "Murphy leads Congress freshmen against scandal - The New Britain Herald New Britain : New Britain, Conn., and surrounding areas". newbritainherald.com. 2007-05-17. http://www.newbritainherald.com/articles/2007/05/17/new%20britain/18351605.txt. Retrieved 2010-07-11. 
10. ^ "Murphy praises pass of ethics bill - The New Britain Herald Past Stories : New Britain, Conn., and surrounding areas". newbritainherald.com. http://www.newbritainherald.com/articles/2008/03/12/past%20stories/20011220.txt. Retrieved 2010-07-11. 
11. ^ Hamilton, Jesse A. (2008-06-30). "Murphy's Law - Blackwater Bill Signed By Bush - Jesse A. Hamilton | On Background". Blogs.courant.com. http://blogs.courant.com/on_background/2008/06/murphys-law-blackwater-bill-si.html. Retrieved 2010-07-11. 
12. ^ "Project Vote Smart - Representative Murphy on H Amdt 197 - Guantanamo Transfer Plan". Votesmart.org. 2007-05-17. http://www.votesmart.org/issue_keyvote_detail.php?cs_id=14478&can_id=17189. Retrieved 2010-07-11. 
13. ^ "Final Vote Results for Roll Call 26". house.gov. 2011-02-08. http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2011/roll026.xml. Retrieved 2011-02-08. 
14. ^ by thirdparty (2008-06-20). "ACTION: Thank CT House Dems For FISA Vote". Daily Kos. http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/6/20/13598/4981. Retrieved 2010-07-11. 
15. ^ Three strikes law^{[dead link]}
16. ^ Three strikes law proposal
17. ^ 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. http://www.masslive.com/hampfrank/republican/index.ssf?/base/news-15/12132549858280.xml&coll=1. Retrieved 2010-07-11. 
18. ^ http://lcv.org/scorecard/2007.pdf
19. ^ http://www.lcv.org/2008-pdf.pdf
20. ^ "MMM Trail Receives National Designation! | Connecticut Forest & Park Association". Ctwoodlands.org. http://www.ctwoodlands.org/MMM. Retrieved 2010-07-11. 
21. ^ Crevier, Nancy K. (2009-08-27). "Lease For New Hawleyville Post Office Finalized". The Newtown Bee. http://newtownbee.com/News/2009-08-27__12-50-27/Lease+For+New+Hawleyville+Post+Office+Finalized. Retrieved 2010-07-11. 
22. ^ "Congressman wants more supportive housing - Connecticut Post". Ctpost.com. 2008-06-23. http://www.ctpost.com/default/article/Congressman-wants-more-supportive-housing-220047.php. Retrieved 2010-07-11. 
23. ^ [1]^{[dead link]}
24. ^ By DANIELA ALTIMARI October 6, 2008 (2008-10-06). "Congressman Chris Murphy Faces His First Race As An Incumbent". Courant.com. http://www.courant.com/news/politics/hc-murphy1006.artoct06,0,4330193.story. Retrieved 2010-07-11. 
25. ^ "Murphy to propose Billy's Law to help find missing adults | WTNH.com Connecticut". Wtnh.com. http://www.wtnh.com/dpp/news/new_haven_cty/news_wtnh_hartford_murphy_proposes_billys_law_200908060535. Retrieved 2010-07-11. 
26. ^ "Murphy adds help for heating to bill - The New Britain Herald News : New Britain, Conn., and surrounding areas". newbritainherald.com. 2009-05-27. http://www.newbritainherald.com/articles/2009/05/27/news/doc4a1ca32070da2656073909.txt. Retrieved 2010-07-11. 
27. ^ "Getting An Earful - Hartford Courant". Courant.com. 2009-08-06. http://www.courant.com/news/politics/hc-web-murphy-tea-party0806aug06,0,1371927.story. Retrieved 2010-07-11. 
28. ^ "Chris Murphy meets "the mob" in Simsbury, CT". The Next Right. 2009-08-17. http://thenextright.com/ironman/chris-murphy-meets-the-mob-in-simsbury-ct. Retrieved 2010-07-11. 
29. ^ Moore, George (2009-08-17). "Opinions differ on public option with local politicians - Local News from". Myrecordjournal.com. http://www.myrecordjournal.com/site/tab1.cfm?newsid=20360488&BRD=2755&PAG=461&dept_id=592709&rfi=6. Retrieved 2010-07-11. 
30. ^ Businessman, Wilton. "Capitol Watch Blog - Connecticut Politics, Political News and Legislation". Blogs.courant.com. http://blogs.courant.com/capitol_watch/2009/11/rep-chris-murphy-votes-against.html. Retrieved 2010-07-11. 
31. ^ CNN report on 5th District race^{[dead link]}
32. ^ National Journal political analysis^{[dead link]}
33. ^ "Topic Galleries". Courant.com. http://www.courant.com/news/politics/hc-ap-elexresults-ctcongress,0,6091949.htmlstory. Retrieved 2010-07-11. 
34. ^ AP Election Results - Courant.com
35. ^ Rep. Chris Murphy promises 'fresh, progressive voice' in Senate - The Hill's Ballot Box

External links

• Representative Christopher Murphy, official U.S. House site
• Chris Murphy for Senate official campaign site
• Biography at WhoRunsGov.com at The Washington Post
• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Voting record maintained by The Washington Post
• Biography, voting record, and interest group ratings at Project Vote Smart
• Congressional profile at GovTrack
• Congressional profile at OpenCongress
• Issue positions and quotes at On The Issues
• Financial information at OpenSecrets.org
• Staff salaries, trips and personal finance at LegiStorm.com
• Campaign finance reports and data at the Federal Election Commission
• Campaign contributions at the National Institute for Money in State Politics
• Appearances on C-SPAN programs

Party political offices
Preceded by Theresa Gerratana	Democratic Party Nominee for Connecticut's 5th congressional district 2006 (won)–present	Incumbent
United States House of Representatives
Preceded by Nancy Johnson	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Connecticut's 5th congressional district January 3, 2007 – present	Incumbent
United States order of precedence
Preceded by Jerry McNerney D-California	United States Representatives by seniority 281st	Succeeded by Ed Perlmutter D-Colorado

Persondata
Name	Murphy, Chris
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1973-08-03
Place of birth	White Plains, New York
Date of death
Place of death