Steve Murphy is a Minnesota

Minnesota

Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...

 politician and a former member of the Minnesota Senate

Minnesota Senate

The Minnesota Senate is the upper house in the Minnesota Legislature. There are 67 members, half as many as are in the Minnesota House of Representatives. In terms of membership, it is the largest upper house of any state legislature. Each Senate district in the state includes an A and B House...

 who represented District 28, which includes portions of Goodhue

Goodhue County, Minnesota

Goodhue County is a county located in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of 2010, the population was 46,183. Its county seat is Red Wing. Nearly all of Prairie Island Indian Community is within the county.-History:...

, Wabasha

Wabasha County, Minnesota

As of the census of 2000, there were 21,610 people, 8,277 households, and 5,876 families residing in the county. The population density was 41 people per square mile . There were 9,066 housing units at an average density of 17 per square mile...

 and Winona

Winona County, Minnesota

As of the census of 2000, there were 49,985 people, 18,744 households, and 11,696 families residing in the county. The population density was 80 people per square mile . There were 19,551 housing units at an average density of 31 per square mile...

 counties in the southeastern part of the state. A Democrat

Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party

The Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party is a major political party in the state of Minnesota and the state affiliate of the Democratic Party. It was created on April 15, 1944, with the merger of the Minnesota Democratic Party and the Farmer–Labor Party...

, he was first elected in 1992, representing the old District 29 until redistricting

Redistricting

Redistricting is the process of drawing United States electoral district boundaries, often in response to population changes determined by the results of the decennial census. In 36 states, the state legislature has primary responsibility for creating a redistricting plan, in many cases subject to...

 in 2002. He was re-elected in 1996, 2000, 2002 and 2006. On January 22, 2010, he announced that he would not seek a sixth term.

Murphy was chair of the Senate Transportation Committee. He was a member of the Senate's Agriculture and Veterans Committee, Business, Industry and Jobs Committee, Capital Investment Committee, and Finance Committee. He also served on the Finance subcommittees for the Agriculture and Veterans Budget and Policy Division, for the Transportation Budget and Policy Division (which he also chaired), and for the Transportation Budget and Policy Division-Transit Subdivision, and on the Transportation Subcommittee for Airways, Waterways and Railways. He was also appointed to several Workforce Development councils by Senate leadership and the governor.

Murphy attended Red Wing Technical College and Eastern Illinois University

Eastern Illinois University

Eastern Illinois University is a state university located in Charleston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1895 as the Eastern Illinois State Normal School, a teacher's college offering a two-year degree, Eastern Illinois University gradually expanded into a comprehensive university with a...

. He is a four-year veteran of the United States Marine Corps

United States Marine Corps

The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...

. Prior to being elected senator, he worked as an operator with Northern States Power (now Xcel Energy

Xcel Energy

Xcel Energy, Inc. is a public utility company based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, serving customers in Colorado, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, Texas, and Wisconsin. Primary services are electricity and natural gas...

), and has spent over 25 years with the company. He also worked at the Prairie Island Nuclear Power Plant

Prairie Island Nuclear Power Plant

The Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant is an electricity-generating facility located in Red Wing, Minnesota along the Mississippi River, adjacent to the Prairie Island Indian Community reservation. The nuclear power plant, which first began operating in 1973, has two nuclear reactors made by...

for six years, and at the Red Wing Steam Plant for 19 years. He has been married twice and has two children, Nik and Matt.

External links

• Biography Senator Murphy Web Page
• Minnesota Public Radio Votetracker: Senator Steve Murphy
• "Red Wing lawmaker wraps up 18-year legislative career" Rochester Post-Bulletin 5/25/2010
• Follow the Money - Steve Murphy Campaign Contributions
  • 2006 2002 2000 1996