Pennsylvania: Eigteenth District

Rep. Tim Murphy (R)

Tim Murphy (R) Elected 2002, 3d term up
Born:	09-11-1952, Cleveland, OH
Home:	Upper St. Clair
Education:	Wheeling Jesuit U., B.S. 1974, Cleveland St. U., M.S. 1976, U. of Pittsburgh, Ph.D. 1979
Religion:	Catholic
Marital Status:	married (Nan Missig)
Elected  Office:	PA Senate, 1996-2002
Professional Career:	Practicing psychologist, 1976-2002; author.
DC Office	322 CHOB, 20515 202-225-2301 Fax: 202-225-1844 Website: murphy.house.gov
State Offices	Greensburg:724-850-7312; Pittsburgh:412-344-5583;
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Pittsburgh was built on the unlikeliest terrain of any of our major cities. Just about the only level places in the city and its suburbs are the bottomlands along the rivers. Everything else is hills that approach the magnitude of mountains. Only a propitious location, where the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers join to form the Ohio, and the confluence of economically valuable natural resources, coal from the mountains and iron ore from the Great Lakes, can explain the fact that a vast metropolitan area has been built on such land. The great cities of California were built around and over mountains; but they are vast expanses of contiguous communities, most of them little distinguishable from the next. The cities and towns of greater Pittsburgh, in contrast, are discontinuous, separated from each other not just by miles but by altitude. So the region’s high-income suburbs and its gritty factory towns are not concentrated in one quarter, but are scattered all around. This is long-settled country, with many more old towns than sparkling new suburbs. Since 2000, the population here has been declining, but with some increase in high-wage jobs and a continuing loss of blue-collar jobs.

The 18th Congressional District of Pennsylvania covers an irregularly shaped swath of the southern part of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area and was designed by Republican redistricters in Harrisburg to maximize the Republican vote. It includes most of southern Allegheny County, most of Westmoreland County to the east and most of Washington County to the west; it stretches from the Pittsburgh city limit to the West Virginia border. It contains the Pittsburgh International Airport in Moon Township, where the financial troubles of US Airways have cost thousands of jobs and reduced operations, but created opportunity by opening the gates to low-fare carriers; the merger of US Airways with America West in 2005 shifted more jobs away from the area. To the east are Monroeville, Greensburg and Ligonier, where a fort was an important frontier outpost in the French and Indian War, but the area is now green with prosperity and dotted with the vast estates of Mellons and other scions of Pittsburgh’s industrial elite; to the west is Canonsburg, which has unveiled a “singing sculpture” of its most famous son, the crooner Perry Como. The district’s backbone is comprised of middle- to upper-middle-class bedroom suburbs, like Mount Lebanon and Upper St. Clair in Allegheny County and Penn Township and Greensburg in Westmoreland County. These areas lean Republican, but not overwhelmingly so. Democrats grumble that the Republican trend in Westmoreland reflects the local influence of the Tribune-Review, the Greensburg-based newspaper owned by conservative Richard Mellon Scaife, named by Clintonite conspiracy theorists as the mastermind of the vast right wing conspiracy. Although John Kerry spent some time at his wife Teresa Heinz Kerry’s estate in Fox Chapel, the Democratic ticket has not done well here. George W. Bush carried the district with 52% of the vote in 2000 and 54% in 2004.

The congressman from the 18th District is Tim Murphy, a Republican first elected in 2002. He grew up in Cleveland in a family of 11 children. He graduated from Wheeling Jesuit University, got a Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh and became a child psychologist. He worked in several Pittsburgh area hospitals and was an adjunct faculty member in public health and pediatrics at the University of Pittsburgh. He became a public figure while offering medical advice as “Dr. Tim” in television appearances and on radio talk shows; he co-authored The Angry Child: Regaining Control When Your Child is Out of Control. After entering Congress, he co-authored another book titled, Overcoming Passive-Aggression, behavior that he now sees on a regular basis. In 1996 Murphy was elected to the state Senate, where he authored a new Patient Bill of Rights and increased funding for medical research. Redistricters drew the 18th with Murphy in mind. Even though the new district included the house of Congressman Frank Mascara, he ran in the primary against 12th District Democrat John Murtha and lost by a wide margin; Mascara’s decision not to run here was an acknowledgement of Murphy’s strength. Murphy, who was unopposed in the Republican primary, presented himself as an experienced and accomplished legislator who opposed abortion and supported gun rights. He had extensive support from Pennsylvania and national Republicans and outspent Democratic nominee Jack Machek, a school district administrator, $894,000 to $126,000. Murphy won 60%-40%—an impressive showing in an open seat race.

In the House, Murphy had a voting record that leaned conservative, especially on foreign policy issues. He quickly gained recognition as president of his freshman class. In January 2005, he made a giant step by winning a seat on the Energy and Commerce Committee. That gave him an opportunity to focus on health care issues, including medical malpractice reform, Medicaid restructuring, new medical technologies and steps to improve hospital care. He co-chaired with Patrick Kennedy the 21st Century Health Care Caucus, where they focused on improving communication among health information technology systems. He also co-chaired the Mental Health Caucus, where he focused in particular on veterans with mental illness and on improving security for their medical records. He opposed embryonic stem cell research and President Bush’s call for personal retirement accounts in Social Security. In 2005, he sustained minor injuries when his military vehicle overturned during a Thanksgiving trip to Baghdad. During the base closing review, Murphy joined in the successful effort to keep the 911th Airlift Wing that is stationed at Moon Township off the Pentagon's closure list

In 2006, he escaped what likely would have been a competitive contest when former state Treasurer (and party-switcher) Barbara Hafer seriously explored but decided against a challenge. After several other prospective candidates bowed out, Democrats were left with Chad Kluko, a little-known and underfunded executive for Verizon Wireless. Murphy carried all four counties and won 58%-42%. Following the election, there were news reports that federal investigators were reviewing Murphy’s possible use of government staff for campaign work. In June 2007, consultant and former teacher Beth Hafer—Barbara's Hafer's daughter—announced she would challenge Murphy in 2008.

Committees

• Energy & Commerce (24th of 26 R)
  Oversight & Investigations; Health; Environment & Hazardous Materials.

Presidential Vote

District Demographics (More Info)

• Cook Partisan Voting Index: R + 2
• Area size: 1,437 square miles
• Urban Population: 84.1%
• Rural Population: 15.9%
• Population 2000: 646,374
• Population 2005 (est): 652,995
• Median Income: $44,938
• Poverty Status: 6.3%
• Military Veterans: 14.9%
• Race/Ethnic Origin: 95.4% White; 2.0% Black; 1.3% Asian; 0.1% Native Am.; 0.0% Hawaiian; 0.6% Two+ races; 0.1% Other; 0.6% Hispanic Origin;
• Ancestry: 19.4% German%; 12.3% Irish%; 11.8% Italian%;
• Occupation: Blue collar 13.7%; White collar 20.0%; Gray collar 63.3%;