Incumbent	Timothy Murphy
Party	Republican
Seeking Re-election?	Yes
Candidate Website	House Website Campaign Website
Other Resources	Congresspedia Profile on Tim Murphy

2004 Presidential Vote	Bush - 54.1% Kerry - 44.5%
2006 Election Results	Murphy - 57.8% Kluko - 42.2 %
District Blog(s) Challenger Bethany Hafer Party Democratic Source of Information Media Story FEC Candidate Website Campaign Website Other Resources Congresspedia profile on Beth Hafer Challenger Brien Wall Party Democratic Source of Information	FEC Candidate Website Campaign Website

Challenger	Steve O'Donnell
Party	Democratic
Source of Information	Campaign Website
Candidate Website	Campaign Website

Background Information

District Map

Pennsylvania's 18th Congressional District is currently held by Rep. Tim Murphy (R-Upper St. Clair.) Congressman Murphy recently won re-election over Democrat Chad Kluko of Monroeville by a comfortable 57.8% to 42.2% margin.

Mr. Murphy is currently under public scrutiny for misusing his Congressional Staff for campaign related purposes. Public employees routinely campaigned and conducted other electioneering activities while on the public clock. Mr. Murphy stole some of the documentation that a KDKA reported showed to him. Mr. Murphy is also not well liked among his former staff members. There may be further troubles with Mr. Murphy as a solid rumor floats about a possible affair with a staff member. This information, allegedly, has infuriated Mr. Murphy's wife.


TPM Muckraker is reporting that federal investigators are looking into Mr. Murphy's potentially illegal use of office staff as campaign workers.

Mr. Murphy's district includes portions of Allegheny, Washington, Westmoreland and a sliver of Beaver County. He won decisively in all ffour counties, performing worst in Allegheny County at 55% of the vote. He won in Westmoreland and Washington Counties with approximately 61% of the vote. Allegheny County provides roughly 57% of the vote in this district during the 2006 mid term election.

Potential Democratic Candidates:
Two candidates have already declared their intention to seek the Democratic nominee for the 18th Congressional District. Bethany Hafer declared in mid-June 2007, while Brien Wells of Upper St. Clair declared in mid-August 2007. Ms. Hafer is the daughter of local political heavyweight Barbara Hafer. Barbara Hafer had been approached during the 2006 cycle to run for this seat but had declined due to personal and professional priorities.

Of the previous Democratic challengers for this seat, only Larry Maggi still has significant ($60,000+) cash on hand and no debt. Mr. Kovach's campaign accounts have been balanced and closed, while all other Democrats still owe significant campaign debt. Representative Murphy as of of Jan 1 2007, has $283,000 cash on hand.

INTER-REPUBLICAN Dynamics

Mr. Murphy is the survivor of a tough year in 2006 for Southwestern Pennyslyvania Republicans. Ideological ally and polical clone, Mellisa Hart (R-Bradford Woods) lost to Jason Altmire in the 4th Congressional District. The 4th Congressional District borders the 18th to the north. She was defeated by an aggressive, grassroots focused campaign that highlighted her attachment to the failed policies, deliberate incompetencies and ideology of President Bush. Mr. Murphy has been more effective in distancing himself from the Bush Administration. He has a 2007 Party Loyalty score of 72.7% as assessed by CQ Politics. He is the 15th least dependable Republican vote in the House this year, and it is highly likely that he will be trumpeting this factoid in the next election season.

However this low unity score will cause him significant problems as he has voiced occassional and ineffective mild criticisms of the Bush Administration's handling of the Iraq War. This deviation from Republican Orthodoxy has led the astro-turf group 'Freedom Watch' to target this district with $250,000 in attack ads urging him to re-affirm his previous support for the failed policies of President Bush in Iraq. This should wedge Mr. Murphy between his vocal base which contains the marginal activist that he'll need to have a chance of winning and the rest of the district's disgust and distrust of President Bush's policies.