Timothy Francis Murphy (born September 11, 1952) is an American former politician and psychologist who served as the U.S. representative for Pennsylvania's 18th congressional district from 2003 until his resignation in 2017. The district included several suburbs south of Pittsburgh. A member of the Republican Party, he also represented the 37th Senate district in the Pennsylvania State Senate from 1996 to 2003. Murphy consistently carried the 18th district with at least 58% of the vote, including unopposed re-election bids in 2014 and 2016.
In October 2017, it was reported Murphy urged a mistress to have an abortion, despite his strict public anti-abortion stance. This was followed by reports of endemic abuse and harassment in his congressional office. Murphy resigned immediately following these scandals, with his seat claimed by Democrat Conor Lamb in a special election.
Early life, education, and psychologist career
One of eleven children, Murphy was born in Cleveland and was raised in Northfield, Ohio, where he attended St. Barnabas Catholic School and Walsh Jesuit High School. He received his Bachelor of Science from Wheeling Jesuit University, his MA from Cleveland State University, and his PhD in psychology from the University of Pittsburgh. Upon leaving school, he became a practicing psychologist and an assistant professor at the University of Pittsburgh. He also made regular appearances on KDKA-TV in Pittsburgh from 1979 to 1995 as a health-care expert.
Murphy co-wrote The Angry Child (2002), which won the National Parenting Publications Award and was featured on Book TV. A few years later, he co-wrote Overcoming Passive-Aggression (2005), again with Loriann Hoff Oberlin, a writer/author and mental-health counselor. Overcoming Passive-Aggression received abundant reviews, including some from specialist mental health publications. Murphy has been interviewed by reporters from Psychology Today, The Washington Post, USA Today, CBS Early Show, CNN, Face the Nation, C-SPAN, and others in the media on the topics of mental health, anger management and violence, parenting, and relationships.
Pennsylvania Senate (1996–2003) In 1996, Republican incumbent State Sen. Michael Fisher decided not to run for re-election in order to run for Pennsylvania Attorney General. Murphy decided to run in Pennsylvania's 37th Senate district and won the Republican primary, defeating John Schnatterly 70%–30%. In the general election, he defeated State Representative Greg Fajt 55%–45%. In 2000, he won re-election to a second term, defeating Joseph Rudolph 64%–36%.
As a state senator, Murphy wrote the Pennsylvania Patient Bill of Rights and supported public funding for medical research. In 2002, the political website PoliticsPA named him to the list of "Smartest Legislators". He resigned his state senate seat on January 3, 2003.
U.S. House of Representatives (2003–2017)
Elections
2002
After redistricting, Murphy ran for the newly redrawn 18th Congressional District in 2002. The district had previously been the 20th, represented by four-term Democrat Frank Mascara. However, the legislature re-drew the district after the 2000 Census in such a way that a large portion of Mascara's district ended up in the neighboring Johnstown-based 12th District, represented by an incumbent of 28-years John Murtha. The new district lines were harshly criticized, in part because in some areas portions of several neighborhoods—and even streets—were split between districts. In parts of the eastern part of the district, one side of the street was in the 18th while the other was in the 12th. In parts of the western portion, one side of the street was in the 18th while the other was in the 14th. In the most extreme example, nearly all of Mascara's hometown of Charleroi was drawn into the 12th district, except that a long tendril extending from Allegheny County to Mascara's house stayed in the 18th.
After a legal battle, the courts largely upheld Pennsylvania's redistricting plan after some minor modifications. Murphy was a member of the committee that redrew Pennsylvania's congressional map, and rumors abounded that he'd reconfigured the district for himself, even though numerous Democrats were also on the committee. Mascara challenged Murtha in the Democratic primary for the 12th District, since the newly configured 12th was geographically more his district than Murtha's. However, Murtha easily defeated Mascara. This removed a significant barrier to Murphy. Even though Democrats outnumbered Republicans by 70,000 registered voters, it was somewhat friendlier to Republicans than the old 20th had been.