Monday, March 2, 2015

Rep. Patrick Murphy: a possible Senate run and one possible pitfall

George Bennett at the Palm Beach Post has this story titled, "Patrick Murphy’s GOP appeal could hurt in Dem Senate primary". Here is an excerpt from the beginning of the article:
     Florida Democrats have a dismal record in statewide elections this millennium, so the fact that Rep. Patrick Murphy, D-Jupiter, has won two big-dollar races in a Republican-leaning House district has many Dems encouraging him to run for Senate in 2016.
     But the crossover appeal that makes Murphy attractive as a potential general election candidate could create some interesting clashes in a Democratic primary if a liberal like Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Weston, or Rep. Alan Grayson, D-Orlando, gets into the race and hits Murphy from the left.
     Murphy got elected in 2012 by unseating conservative Republican Rep. Allen West in that year’s most expensive House race. He won re-election in November with 59.8 percent despite his district’s slight Republican tilt and the national GOP wave.
A very big, developing political story in Florida.