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Another of the strong Freshman advocates for ethics reform, Chris Murphy actually won a decisive victory in his 2006 run despite a barrage of negative ads from the RNC that led to the contest being characterized as “the nastiest campaign in state history.”
Since his election, Murphy has voted with the Dems 97.6% of the time, including opposition to troop funding without benchmarks, though he missed a vote on lobbying reform that was overwhelmingly supported by both Republicans and Democrats.
The NY Times gave him this endorsement when he ran in 2006:
“Mr. Murphy, a lawyer, is impressive. He has spent eight years
in the Connecticut House and Senate. He pushed for the state to
adopt a system of campaign finance reform when he first entered
the House, long before this was considered an important issue.
He helped pass legislation that made it easier for the uninsured to
obtain health insurance. He wants to work on the same issue in
Congress. Mr. Murphy believes the war in Iraq has forced America
into a false choice between war and civil liberties and has made
us more vulnerable to terrorism. He advocates a timetable for
withdrawal. Ms. Johnson has supported the war and has voted to
continue the current open-ended commitment. We’ve supported
Ms. Johnson in the past, but are disenchanted with her support of
her leadership’s radical agenda. Mr. Murphy would be a strong
candidate in any race, and even against a seasoned incumbent,
is impressive. He would make a superb addition to Congress. We
strongly endorse his candidacy.”
