Chris Murphy: A Progressive Voice

On November 6, 2012, Chris Murphy swept past Republican challenger (and former WWE tycoon) Linda McMahon. He earned 55% of the popular vote and won 7 of Connecticut’s 8 counties. On January 3, 2013, Murphy was officially sworn into office to become the Junior Senator from Connecticut. At 39, he is the youngest Senator serving in Congress.
Murphy’s passion for public service began at an early age. In 1998, while still in Law School at the University of Connecticut, he ran for Connecticut’s House of Representatives, and won. In 2003, Murphy was elected a Connecticut State Senator, representing the state’s 16^th district, and in 2006, at the age of just 33, he decided to run for the U.S. House of Representatives. Chris served three subsequent two-year terms before tackling the U.S. Senate and defeating Linda McMahon in 2012.

Murphy has established himself as a fairly liberal Democrat. According to his campaign website, www.chrismurphy.com, Murphy strongly endorses LGBT equal rights.  He believes in the urgent need to reform America’s tax code.  As co-founder of the Congressional Buy American Caucus, he seeks to strengthen America’s domestic manufacturing sector, largely through Buy American legislation.  He also hopes to increase investment in clean energy technology and in America’s battered education system.  He supports Obamacare and, as a representative, argued for the public option that was included in the original House bill, though not the final legislation.
Institutional reform may be another of Murphy’s top priorities.  He championed ethics reform in the House, including the creation of the Office of Congressional Ethics.  In the Senate, Murphy has endorsed filibuster reform.  He has also decried the GOP opposition to Chuck Hagel, President’s Obama’s nominee to lead the Department of Defense, characterizing it as driven by partisanship and by Republicans who “just want to pick a fight.”
In the Senate, Murphy has won seats on the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, the Foreign Relations Committee, and the Joint Economic Committee. However, the tragic December 14 shootings in Newtown, CT may alter his immediate ambitions. While in the House, Murphy represented Connecticut’s 5^th district, home to 41 towns including Newtown. In the days following the tragedy, he told the Associated Press that he would judge his time in the Senate by his ability to work “every hour and every day to make something good happen from these kids’ deaths.”  Framing the pending debate over gun control, Murphy also described the NRA’s press conference following the shooting in Newtown as “the most revolting, tone deaf statement I’ve ever seen.”
Beyond his immediate push for gun control, Murphy’s record and statements suggest that he will be a reliable progressive.  This marks a change from his predecessor, former Sen. Joe Lieberman, an independent who caucused with the Democrats.  Thus, while Murphy’s election may not have increased the ranks of the Senate Democratic Caucus, his presence may help to push it to the left.