Patrick Murphy, Congressman to the Stars, Take Two

Back in October, we posted Patrick Murphy, Congressman to the Stars, to discuss the amount of fundraising our congressman has done outside our district.  (It’s almost like Bucks residents know better.)

That issue came up again today in an article in the Doylestown Intelligencer/Bucks County Courier Times: Campaign Spending Limit Urged.

Here’s what the Intel had to say on Murphy’s fundraising:

In 2009, before campaign season even began, Murphy has stockpiled an impressive war chest. He raised about $321,000 in the last three months of 2009, finishing the year with just under $850,000 cash on hand, according to the FEC.

Of about 267 individuals who donated to Murphy in the last quarter, about 167 came from outside Pennsylvania.

At least a dozen contributions came from employees of Navistar International Corp., an Illinois-based company that makes military trucks.

Daniel C. Ustian of Naperville, Ill., the company’s CEO and chairman of the board, gave the maximum-allowed individual contribution of $2,400.

Another Murphy donor was Doylestown resident Peter R. Bossard, CEO of Power and Energy Inc., who gave $250 in December, following a $250 contribution in June. In 2008 Bossard gave Murphy $1,500.

Last month, Bossard’s 13-employee company received $2.4 million in federal funding to continue developing technology to generate ultra-pure hydrogen for use as an alternative fuel. Since 2006, the Northampton company has received more than $7 million from the government.

Bossard projects his company will employ 200 people by 2015.

Murphy also enjoyed donations from a couple of groups that Democrats have beaten up on – Wall Street banks and oil companies.

Goldman Sachs banker Richard Kauffman of New York gave Murphy $2,400. Exxon Mobil Vice President Jean Baderschneider of McLean, Va., also contributed the max.

At home, Delaware Valley College President Joseph Brosnan gave $1,200, and Eagles President Joe Banner $2,400.

And here’s what we said back in October: (Patrick Murphy, Congressman to the Stars)

In today’s (Sunday, Oct. 18) Doylestown Intelligencer, an article (Money Pours in to Murphy) suggests that Patrick Murphy’s campaign is raising a ton of money.  According to the article, he’s raised $325,000 in the quarter ending Sept. 30, which makes his total for the year almost $1.2 million.   Only one PA candidate raised more money than Murphy: 12th district Republican candidate William Russell, who’s running against Murphy mentor John Murtha.

The more interesting part of the article points out how much money Murphy is raising outside of Pennsylvania.  The Intel reports that actress Felicity Huffman has donated $2500 to Murphy, apparently not her first contribution.  Laurie David, former wife of the Seinfeld creator, contributed $2000.

According to OpenSecrets.org Center for Responsive Politics, Murphy is eighth of the 435 members of the House of Representatives in receiving money from out-of-state contributors.  (He’s received $193,099, which is 36% of his total.)  This means that Murphy received more than a third of his donations from people he doesn’t represent.

By the way, Joe Sestak follows him at ninth in the house with $191,718 (29.6% of his total.)  And Arlen Specter is fourth in the Senate at pulling money from outside the state, with almost 45% coming from outside of Pennsylvania.

Even more interesting, Murphy received $64,000 just from the Chicago area.

My question is, why are people in Hollywood—and Chicago, of all the ironies—so supportive of our local representative?  What is he doing that is appealing to those on the left coast and those from the hotbed of political heavy-handedness?

I don’t know the answer, but I can tell you this:  Whatever the attraction of people in Hollywood and Chicago to Murphy, it likely isn’t in our local—or the country’s—best interests.

There’s lots of other things in the article to comment about, (and that will follow) but we couldn’t let more information about  Murphy’s out-of-state fundraising pass without notice.

Tags: 2010 PA Election, Campaign Fundraising, Congressman Patrick Murphy