Chris Murphy (politician)
Encyclopedia
Christopher Scott "Chris" Murphy (born August 3, 1973) is the U. S. Representative
for , serving since 2007. He is a member of the Democratic Party.
Murphy previously served in the Connecticut House of Representatives
and the Connecticut Senate
.
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
.
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.
. 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. . 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.
Murphy votes with Democratic party leadership 98% of the time. 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
.
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.
(OCE), which was passed into law by the House in March 2008.
, 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.
.
s 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. Previously he had not endorsed a Three Strikes
bill and was on record opposing such a law on the federal level.
, 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.
' congressional scorecards in both 2007 and 2008.
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. 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.
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
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.
for winning the 2009 World Series
.
. 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.
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.
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."
"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.
(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.
Sam Caligiuri
by a margin of 8.2%.
, who is retiring.
.
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
for , serving since 2007. He is a member of the Democratic Party.
Murphy previously served in the Connecticut House of Representatives
Connecticut House of Representatives
The Connecticut House of Representatives is the lower house in the Connecticut General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The house is composed of 151 members representing an equal number of districts, with each constituency containing nearly 22,600 residents...
and the Connecticut Senate
Connecticut Senate
The Connecticut State Senate is the upper house of the Connecticut General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The state senate comprises 36 members, each representing a district with around 94,600 inhabitants. Senators are elected to two-year terms without term limits...
.
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.Murphy is a graduate of Wethersfield High School, Williams College
Williams College
Williams College is a private liberal arts college located in Williamstown, Massachusetts, United States. It was established in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams. Originally a men's college, Williams became co-educational in 1970. Fraternities were also phased out during this...
, and the University of Connecticut School of Law
University of Connecticut School of Law
The University of Connecticut School of Law is the only public law school in Connecticut and one of only four in New England. The school was recently ranked forty-sixth out of the 190 American Bar Association-accredited law schools in the United States and is considered a Tier 1 school by U.S...
. From 1994 to 1995, he attended Exeter College, Oxford
Exeter College, Oxford
Exeter College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England and the fourth oldest college of the University. The main entrance is on the east side of Turl Street...
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
Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford is the capital of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960, it is the second most populous city on New England's largest river, the Connecticut River. As of the 2010 Census, Hartford's population was 124,775, making...
.
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"In 1996, Murphy was campaign manager for Charlotte Koskoff's near upset of Nancy Johnson
Nancy Johnson (politician)
Nancy Lee Johnson is a former American politician from the state of Connecticut. Johnson was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from 1983 to 2007, representing first the 6th district and later the 5th District of Connecticut following the elimination of the 6th...
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
Planning and Zoning Commission
A Planning and Zoning Commission is a local elected or appointed government board charged with recommending to the local town or city council the boundaries of the various original zoning district and appropriate regulations to be enforced therein and any proposed amedments thereto and shall...
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 RepresentativesConnecticut House of Representatives
The Connecticut House of Representatives is the lower house in the Connecticut General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The house is composed of 151 members representing an equal number of districts, with each constituency containing nearly 22,600 residents...
. 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
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. 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. . 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
M. Jodi Rell
Mary Jodi Rell is a Republican politician and was the 87th Governor of the U.S. state of Connecticut from 2004 until 2011. She was the Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut under Governor John G. Rowland, who resigned during a corruption investigation. Rell is Connecticut's second female Governor,...
made Connecticut the third state in the nation to allow for taxpayer-subsidized stem-cell research.
Committee assignments
- Committee on Foreign Affairs
- Subcommittee on the Middle East and South AsiaUnited States House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East and South AsiaThe U.S. House Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia is a subcommittee within the House Foreign Affairs Committee.-Jurisdiction:The subcommittee is one of five with what the committees calls "regional jurisdiction" over a specific area of the globe...
- 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. He is a liberal
Liberalism
Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...
, receiving scores of 95% and 100% from the Americans for Democratic Action
Americans for Democratic Action
Americans for Democratic Action is an American political organization advocating progressive policies. ADA works for social and economic justice through lobbying, grassroots organizing, research and supporting progressive candidates.-History:...
, 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
Club for Growth
The Club for Growth is a politically conservative 527 organization active in the United States of America, with an agenda focussed on taxation and other economic issues, and with an affiliated political action committee . The Club advocates lower taxes, limited government, less government spending,...
,the American Conservative Union
American Conservative Union
The American Conservative Union is an American political organization advocating conservative policies, and is the oldest such conservative lobbying organization in the country.-Organization:...
, FreedomWorks
FreedomWorks
FreedomWorks is a conservative non-profit organization based in Washington D.C., United States. FreedomWorks trains volunteers, assists in campaigns, and encourages them to mobilize, interacting with both fellow citizens and their political representatives....
and the National Taxpayers Union
National Taxpayers Union
National Taxpayers Union is a taxpayers advocacy organization and taxpayers union in the United States, founded in 1969 by James Dale Davidson. NTU advertises that it is the largest and oldest grassroots taxpayer organization in the nation, with 362,000 members nationwide. It is closely...
.
Murphy aligns himself with progressives in the House. At the July 2010 Netroots Nation convention in Las Vegas
Las Vegas metropolitan area
The Las Vegas Valley is the heart of the Las Vegas-Paradise, NV MSA also known as the Las Vegas–Paradise–Henderson MSA which includes all of Clark County, Nevada, and is a metropolitan area in the southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada. The Valley is defined by the Las Vegas Valley landform, a ...
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.
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. 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 EthicsOffice of Congressional Ethics
The Office of Congressional Ethics , established by the U.S. House of Representatives in March 2008, is an independent, non-partisan entity charged with reviewing allegations of misconduct against members of the House of Representatives and their staff and, when appropriate, referring matters to...
(OCE), which was passed into law by the House in March 2008.
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 USABlackwater USA
Xe Services LLC, better known by its former names, Blackwater USA and Blackwater Worldwide, is a private military company founded in 1997 by Erik Prince and Al Clark.. Xe is currently the largest of the U.S. State Department's three private security contractors...
, 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.
Terrorism
Murphy is an advocate of closing the terrorist detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. In February 2011, he voted to extend provisions of the USA PATRIOT act.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 DoddChristopher Dodd
Christopher John "Chris" Dodd is an American lawyer, lobbyist, and Democratic Party politician who served as a United States Senator from Connecticut for a thirty-year period ending with the 111th United States Congress....
.
Response to Cheshire home invasion
Two home invasionHome invasion
Home invasion is the act of illegally burgling or entering a private and occupied dwelling for the purpose of committing a crime Home invasion is the act of illegally burgling or entering a private and occupied dwelling for the purpose of committing a crime Home invasion is the act of illegally...
s occurred in Murphy's district in 2007 and early 2008; the former, in Cheshire
Cheshire, Connecticut
Cheshire is a town in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 28,543 at the 2000 census. The center of population of Connecticut is located in Cheshire. In 2009 Cheshire was ranked 72 in Money Magazine's 100 Best Places to Live.Likewise, in 2011 Cheshire was ranked 73 in...
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. Previously he had not endorsed a Three Strikes
Three strikes law
Three strikes laws)"are statutes enacted by state governments in the United States which require the state courts to hand down a mandatory and extended period of incarceration to persons who have been convicted of a serious criminal offense on three or more separate occasions. These statutes became...
bill and was on record opposing such a law on the federal level.
New Haven - Springfield Amendment
Murphy has been a proponent of the proposed New Haven-Hartford-Springfield Commuter Rail LineNew Haven-Hartford-Springfield Commuter Rail Line
The New Haven–Hartford–Springfield commuter rail line is a planned commuter rail line with a southern terminus at Union Station in New Haven, Connecticut, and a northern terminus at Union Station in Springfield, Massachusetts, United States...
, 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.
Environment
Murphy is strong supporter of environmental protection, scoring 100% on the League of Conservation VotersLeague of Conservation Voters
The League of Conservation Voters is a political advocacy organization founded in 1969 by American environmentalist David Brower in the early years of the environmental movement. LCV's mission is to "advocate for sound environmental policies and to elect pro-environmental candidates who will adopt...
' congressional scorecards in both 2007 and 2008.
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. 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.
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.Offshore drilling
Murphy has opposed Republican efforts to expand domestic oil drilling to respond to high energy prices. In August 2008 Murphy sent a letter to House Majority Leader Steny HoyerSteny Hoyer
Steny Hamilton Hoyer is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1981. The district includes a large swath of rural and suburban territory southeast of Washington, D.C.. He is a member of the Democratic Party....
expressing support for increased oil drilling as part of a bipartisan energy bill. In October 2008 Murphy's opponent, David Cappiello
David Cappiello
David J. Cappiello , is a businessman and former State Senator representing Connecticut’s 24th Senate District, which includes the communities of Danbury, New Fairfield, Sherman, and part of Bethel...
charged Murphy had flip-flopped on energy issues
"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.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.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.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.
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 YankeesNew York Yankees
The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...
for winning the 2009 World Series
2009 World Series
The 2009 World Series was the 105th edition of Major League Baseball's championship series. The best-of-seven playoff was contested between the Philadelphia Phillies, champions of the National League and defending World Series champions, and the New York Yankees, champions of the American League...
.
2006 campaign for the U.S. House of Representatives
Murphy left the State Senate (did not run for re-election) to seek the U.S. House seat held by Republican Nancy JohnsonNancy Johnson (politician)
Nancy Lee Johnson is a former American politician from the state of Connecticut. Johnson was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from 1983 to 2007, representing first the 6th district and later the 5th District of Connecticut following the elimination of the 6th...
. 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
Al Gore
Albert Arnold "Al" Gore, Jr. served as the 45th Vice President of the United States , under President Bill Clinton. He was the Democratic Party's nominee for President in the 2000 U.S. presidential election....
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 reformCampaign finance reformCampaign finance reform is the common term for the political effort in the United States to change the involvement of money in politics, primarily in political campaigns....
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.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
ABC News
ABC News is the news gathering and broadcasting division of American broadcast television network ABC, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company...
, 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.
National political analyst Chuck Todd
Chuck Todd
Charles David “Chuck” Todd is an American journalist, Chief White House Correspondent and political director for NBC News, and contributing editor to Meet the Press...
, 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."
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.
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 HostettlerJohn Hostettler
John Nathan Hostettler , was a Republican candidate for the open U.S. Senate seat in the state of Indiana held by retiring Senator Evan Bayh. On December 3, 2009, Hostettler announced his candidacy for the U.S. Senate, but lost to former Senator Dan Coats.Hostettler served in the U.S...
(who lost to Democrat Brad Ellsworth
Brad Ellsworth
John Bradley "Brad" Ellsworth is the former U.S. Representative for , serving from 2007 until 2011, and was the unsuccessful 2010 Democratic nominee for the United States Senate seat currently held by Dan Coats...
in Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
). 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
New Britain, Connecticut
New Britain is a city in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. It is located approximately 9 miles southwest of Hartford. According to 2006 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city is 71,254....
, Torrington
Torrington, Connecticut
Torrington is the largest city in Litchfield County, Connecticut and the northwestern Connecticut region. It is also the core city of the largest micropolitan area in the United States. The city population was 36,383 according to the 2010 census....
, Danbury
Danbury, Connecticut
Danbury is a city in northern Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. It had population at the 2010 census of 80,893. Danbury is the fourth largest city in Fairfield County and is the seventh largest city in Connecticut....
, Meriden
Meriden, Connecticut
Meriden is a city in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. According to 2005 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city is 59,653.-History:...
, and Waterbury
Waterbury, Connecticut
Waterbury is a city in New Haven County, Connecticut, on the Naugatuck River, 33 miles southwest of Hartford and 77 miles northeast of New York City...
(the largest city in the district), rich suburban commuter towns in the Farmington Valley
Farmington Valley
The Farmington Valley is located west of Hartford, Connecticut in Hartford and Litchfield Counties. It is defined by the Farmington River, which runs through it....
and north of New Haven
New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven is the second-largest city in Connecticut and the sixth-largest in New England. According to the 2010 Census, New Haven's population increased by 5.0% between 2000 and 2010, a rate higher than that of the State of Connecticut, and higher than that of the state's five largest cities, and...
, and rural towns in Litchfield County
Litchfield County, Connecticut
Litchfield County is a county located in the northwestern corner of the U.S. state of Connecticut. Litchfield County has the lowest population density of any county in Connecticut but is geographically the state's largest county. As of 2010 the population was 189,927...
. 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
Simsbury, Connecticut
Simsbury is a suburban town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 23,234 at the 2000 census. The town was incorporated as Connecticut's twenty-first town in May 1670.-Early history:...
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
Kent, Connecticut
Kent is a town in Litchfield County, Connecticut, alongside the border with New York. The population was 2,858 at the 2000 census. The town is home to three New England boarding schools: South Kent School, Kent School and The Marvelwood School. The Schaghticoke Indian Reservation is also located...
and Goshen
Goshen, Connecticut
Goshen is a town in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 2,697 at the 2000 census.Each July, the Connecticut Agricultural Fair is held in town. It is also home to the Goshen players.-Geography:...
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
The Hartford Courant
The Hartford Courant is the largest daily newspaper in the U.S. state of Connecticut, and is a morning newspaper for most of the state north of New Haven and east of Waterbury...
. 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
Murphy defeated his opponent, Republican state Senator David Cappiello, 36-60% to earn a second term.2010
Murphy won re-election in 2010 against Republican nominee State SenatorConnecticut Senate
The Connecticut State Senate is the upper house of the Connecticut General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The state senate comprises 36 members, each representing a district with around 94,600 inhabitants. Senators are elected to two-year terms without term limits...
Sam Caligiuri
Sam Caligiuri
Sam S. F. Caligiuri is a lawyer and former Connecticut State Senator. In 2010, he ran for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate, but switched for a House seat in Connecticut's 5th congressional district...
by a margin of 8.2%.
2012 Senate Election
Murphy announced on January 20, 2011, that he would run for the Senate seat currently held by Joe LiebermanJoe Lieberman
Joseph Isadore "Joe" Lieberman is the senior United States Senator from Connecticut. A former member of the Democratic Party, he was the party's nominee for Vice President in the 2000 election. Currently an independent, he remains closely affiliated with the party.Born in Stamford, Connecticut,...
, who is retiring.
Personal life
Chris Murphy and his wife, Cathy Holahan Murphy, have one child, born in 2008. They reside in CheshireCheshire, Connecticut
Cheshire is a town in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 28,543 at the 2000 census. The center of population of Connecticut is located in Cheshire. In 2009 Cheshire was ranked 72 in Money Magazine's 100 Best Places to Live.Likewise, in 2011 Cheshire was ranked 73 in...
.
External links
- Representative Christopher Murphy, official U.S. House site
- Chris Murphy for Senate official campaign site