U.S. House Rep. Stephanie Murphy will not seek a fourth term in Congress.
Murphy has represented Florida’s 7th Congressional District since 2016. She took control of the district that includes Winter Park, Oviedo, Altamonte Springs and Sanford by unseating Republican John Mica after 12 straight terms.
In a statement announcing her decision, she cited a desire to spend time with her family.
“I strongly believe in a citizen Congress, where ordinary citizens run for office in search of duty and service, not in search of a career. And I never intended my time in Congress to become a career,” Murphy said.
“These last few years have been some of the most rewarding moments of my life, but also some of the most challenging. Public service is not without personal sacrifice. And as a mom of two young children, my time away from them has been hard. So, I wanted to share with you that I will not be seeking another term as your representative in Congress. This was not an easy decision, but it was the right decision.”
The decision also comes after Murphy, a centrist Democrat, faced intense scrutiny from right-wing opposition in Florida. One of the more aggressive redistricting proposals for the state of Florida would almost completely destroy Murphy’s district, siloing off the urban parts of the 7th to create several new Republican-leaning blocs.
A recent attack ad against Murphy was representative of some of the heat she felt back home. The ad laid the blame for the rise of costs of goods in the United States (specifically chicken wings) at Murphy’s feet, saying this single participant of a 435-member legislative body was responsible for the nationwide rate of inflation. Murphy nodded toward this era of bad feelings in her statement.
“At a time when our politics have become so divisive and dangerous, my greatest hope for my colleagues is that they do the same. To stop the name-calling, saber-rattling, and the disinformation and to listen to one another,” she said. “Be ideological in the fight, but pragmatic in the end.”
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This article appears in Dec 15-21, 2021.