Scott Murphy

Scott Murphy, a Democrat, has represented the 20th Congressional District of New York in the U.S. House of Representatives since 2009. He won the special election on March 31, 2009, to replace Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand, who resigned after she was appointed to the U.S. Senate. Murphy, who had never run for public office before, emerged as the winner on April 24, 2009, when Republican Jim Tedisco conceded after a lengthy vote count.

Transparency
On his campaign Web site, Murphy promised to follow the example of Kirsten Gillibrand by posting his schedule online and releasing all of his appropriations requests.

Health insurance
Murphy supports expanding health care coverage to all Americans, and he endorsed the expansion of SCHIP. He also supports federally-funded stem cell research.

Economy
Murphy supports tax relief for middle-income families, additional investment in infrastructure, especially in upstate New York, and more accountability for the executives of companies receiving taxpayer funding. He also supports investment in renewable energy and "green jobs."

Bio
Scott Murphy, a Missouri native, earned a bachelor's degree in social studies from Harvard in 1992. He founded the company SmallWorld.com in 1995, and he later worked for iXL, an Internet consulting company. He last worked for Advantage Capital Partners. He also has worked as an aide to Democratic Governors, Mel Carnahan and Roger Wilson of Missouri. He is married to Dr. Jen Hogan, and they have three children.

2009 special election
On January 23, 2009, New York Gov. David Paterson appointed Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand to the U.S. Senate, thus creating a vacancy in New York's 20th District and the need for a special election. The Republican Party selected Assemblyman Jim Tedisco, the Republican minority leader in the State Assembly, as its candidate, while the Democratic Party selected Scott Murphy, who had never run for public office. The special election was held on March 31, 2009, and by day's end, the two candidates were separated by 65 votes, with Murphy leading 77,344 to 77,279 over Tedisco. More than 5,000 absentee ballots remained to be counted, and so the results could not be certified for weeks. Over the next few weeks, Tedisco challenged many absentee ballots, including the one cast by Sen. Gillibrand. On April 24, Tedisco called Murphy to concede the race; at the time, Murphy held a 401-vote lead.