The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee quietly met in New York City last weekend with Mark Murphy, a Democrat likely to challenge New York City’s only Republican congressman in next year’s elections, according to a source.
Murphy is an aide to Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, and is looking to run against freshman Rep. Michael Grimm. So far, Grimm has more than $400,000 on hand in his campaign account, making him a formidable target to unseat.
Grimm is a former FBI agent and military veteran who ran an insurgent campaign, relying on a mix of support from Tea Party activists and high-profile endorsements from Rudy Giuliani and Sarah Palin. After a contentious primary, Grimm went on to knock off freshman Rep. Mike McMahon in 2010.
Since taking office, Grimm’s record working undercover in the FBI has come under scrutiny — particularly after the New Yorker detailed an altercation Grimm had where he reportedly pulled out his gun during a dispute near a night club years ago. Politically, Grimm has had some choice words for some of his hard-line Tea Party supporters, fracturing the alliance that propelled him to victory not long ago.
Murphy is the Staten Island representative for the Public Advocate. Before that, Murphy worked in the real estate industry in California. He now lives on Staten Island, and comes from a family that has resided there for generations.
The NY-13 district includes all of Staten Island and a portion of southern Brooklyn. It’s unclear how much of Brooklyn — or perhaps Manhattan — will be drawn into the district after it is redrawn to reflect updated information from the latest census. New York is expected to lose 2 congressional seats, including, according to many observers, the nearby NY-9 seat formerly held by Anthony Weiner — which covers Brooklyn and Queens.
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It should be an interesting battle in 2012 if Murphy goes for it.
Before there was the “Oracle at Delphi” there was Count Vampire J. Machiavelli
VJ Machiavelli
The Legislative Budget is Too Damn High
Murphy is the son of disgraced Congressman John Murphy, who was prosecuted in the Abscam scandal for taking a cash bribe and did time in the Federal pen. This hit piece also failed to mention that the younger Murphy hasn’t lived on Staten Island in more than a decade, and actually worked for year as a cable TV actor. His current job is working for Bill Deblasio, an ultraliberal former councilman who once served as Mayor Dinkins right arm, a Mayor despised for his ineptitude and racially tinged distaste for the 80% white, very conservative borough.
Staten Islanders hate candidates that move to the borough to run for office, and Murphy has only been living here for 2 years. The last GOP candidate to run was Bob Straniere, a Manhattan resident who once served the Island as Assemblyman for decades, and even though he had only been out of office six years, McMahon cleaned his clock because of it. There was also Grimm’s GOP primary opponent Michael Allegretti in 2010, who moved onto the Island to run and despite being registered to vote in the Brooklyn part of this House district for decades and coming from a politically active and wealthy local family, he was crushed by more than 2 to 1.
Staten Islanders don’t like liberals and they don’t like carpetbaggers. The newly revitalized GOP machine with more than 650 active committee members under incoming Chair Bob Scamardella will help carry Grimm to a crushing victory over Murphy, you can bank on it.
you raise a good / fair point regarding residency, and people’s tendency to look unkindly at someone who moves into the community just to run for office to represent them.
but, if i may, you note that Murphy has “only been living here for 2 years.”
so, i’m curious: how long would you suggest someone live on Staten Island before they run for office?
Its not my opinion that counts by how voters vote. Staten Islanders very much see themselves as the forgotten borough. Mostly because of Guy Molinari’s legacy as a vocal, combative but also productive elected official, they have high standard when it comes to offices like Borough President, and DA. And being the only part of NYC where one Congress member represents the entire borough, they also have high standards for that office. Grimm first moved to Staten Island about 15 years before he ran, and lived there for more than 12 years. I would say someone who had lived there less than that would not be electable to anything but an Assembly seat. If Titone ever moved on, Murphy could be a good candidate for that seat, especially if the Democrats hand him the nod, as the North presents an uphill battle for any GOP candidate; but Murphy would faced with the changing demographics of the Democratic Party up there, from working class Irish to black and latino.
[...] NY-13: According to the New York Observer’s Azi Paybarah, the DCCC is talking to Mark Murphy, an [...]