Everybody Knows a Murphy
Rep. Stephanie Murphy left Congress with lessons on winning as a pragmatic moderate, solving problems, and the outsized cost of far-left attacks.
Stephanie Murphy didn’t plan to run a four-month campaign for Congress against longtime GOP incumbent John Mica in her Orlando-area swing district (Florida’s 7th). But in 2016, a local tragedy galvanized her successful last-minute campaign to flip a seat blue — and keep it that way.
Rep. Murphy’s incredible story — from refugee to citizen leader to spontaneous Congressional candidate to one of the most effective legislators in Washington and architect of 2018’s Blue Wave — is a distinctly American tale.
Murphy left Congress after last session, and we recently interviewed her about how she won the middle, why she’s a moderate, and how the Democratic Party needs to change.

As she put it, “everybody knows a Murphy.” That rings true in more ways than one. It should spring hope for the untapped potential of similarly talented leaders in flippable GOP-held districts everywhere: when pragmatic and patriotic Democrats meet everyday voters in the middle with a mainstream message and aspirational story, they can defeat the extremists who threaten our democracy.
Murphy’s story is a testament to how the simple act of centering voters is enough for Democrats to mount credible challenges against established GOP incumbents:
I ran a four month campaign and unseated that 24-year incumbent. In the campaign, I remained laser-focused on jobs, security, and equality. I felt like nobody in a democracy deserves a free pass to reelection. These were issues that my community wanted to discuss, and the campaign was a good place for us to have those conversations. I think part of my success, which nobody thought I could do, was because I was in tune with the people who lived in my community and I wanted to talk about things that mattered to them.
In Murphy’s experience, the Democratic Party’s national brand and message are often out of step with what voters in swing districts are looking for — and the solution is to go local:
Oftentimes, our national party isn't necessarily in tune with moderate districts. In 2016, for example, the national Democratic Party was trying to make the race about Donald Trump — and I really didn't talk about Donald Trump. I talked about jobs, I talked about security, and I talked about equality… Those issues were local issues that mattered to my community. So sometimes, if you’re running in a moderate district, you have to ignore national Democratic messaging.
When it comes to actually making progress on the issues, problem solving — not progressive posturing — is the name of the game:
I am a moderate because I'm a pragmatist. I believe that we should fight passionately for our principles and the things that matter to us, but in order to make change in this country, we have to move forward with pragmatic policy… The only way you can make a difference in the lives of your constituents is to have your policy ideas be signed into law. So it's out of necessity to deliver for my constituents that I'm a pragmatist.
Murphy doesn’t hold back on how and where the far-left hurts their own cause by focusing their energy on taking out moderates within their own party:
I think sometimes the activists allow their passions to prevent progress… here’s what I would also add for those on the extreme flanks who think that the way they should achieve party unity is by personally attacking vulnerable, moderate members of their own party: for every dollar you spend in the off-year attacking your own party, it’s gonna take $10 in the on-year to repair that damage and win against the Republican. Take a look at the record so far of the Republican who's replaced me and see if you don't think as a Democrat you would prefer to have me there.
In order to meet the moment with what it needs, Murphy hopes that Democrats change their tune and reconnect with voters from outside the blue bubble:
I hope the party gets back in touch with the American people. We like to say that we are the party of the people, but based on polling and the general American sentiment, they no longer think our party reflects average American values. I know firsthand that we have delivered on a lot of things that have helped average Americans, but when we talk, we tend to talk in faculty-room-speak as opposed to factory-floor-speak.
We as a democracy deserve two healthy parties — and when the other one is so sick, it really is up to Democrats to step up. But we can't do that if we aren't speaking to the American people in a way that resonates with people and reflects their lived experiences.
These were just a few highlights from our conversation with Murphy. The full interview has been edited for length and clarity and posted below.
The Welcome Party: Can you tell us a little bit about your background and how you got into public service?
Stephanie Murphy: I'm a refugee and an immigrant to the United States, and as a result, I'm somebody who really values our democracy.
My family and I were rescued at sea by the US Navy escaping Communist Vietnam when I was just a baby. They provided us with the food, fuel, and water that we needed to make it to a Malaysian refugee camp. And then from there, a Lutheran church in Virginia sponsored my family and relocated us to the United States.
And while life hasn’t always been easy in the US, my family and I had an opportunity at freedom and the American Dream. So I really love this country and I believe in public service as a way to pay back the debt that I owe it.
You won election to Congress by unseating an established Republican incumbent in 2016. Tell us about your campaign and how you pulled off that major upset victory.
I did not ever imagine running for public office. But in June of 2016, a gunman walked into a nightclub in my community and took the lives of 49 innocent individuals — and the person representing my community took a check from the NRA and cashed it two days later.
And I thought to myself, you can't have hateful rhetoric at the highest levels of this country and inaction in Washington and not expect to see it manifest itself in your backyard. So I decided at the very end of June to challenge a 24-year incumbent.
I ran a four month campaign and unseated that 24-year incumbent. In the campaign, I remained laser-focused on jobs, security, and equality. I felt like nobody in a democracy deserves a free pass to reelection. These were issues that my community wanted to discuss, and the campaign was a good place for us to have those conversations. I think part of my success, which nobody thought I could do, was because I was in tune with the people who lived in my community and I wanted to talk about things that mattered to them.
I stayed laser-like focused on my messaging and I built a political machine to knock doors and run a ground game to get the message out. And I think that's how I prevailed.
You did all of that in four months?!
I did it in four months and we were named one of the top ten best-run campaigns of 2016. It was a really short runway and I'm not sure I'd recommend it to everyone, but it worked in this case.
And when I got into the race I was polling ~6% name ID and I think that's because everybody knows a Murphy and they thought maybe they knew me. And by the end, we won by three percentage points.
One of our core arguments at The Welcome Party and WelcomePAC is that moderates need to organize better (the way the far-left has). Your campaign sounds like a model for what we'd love to see more moderates doing across the country. Do you have any tips for other pragmatic, middle-of-the-road candidates when it comes to building that ground game?
I think some of the basics around campaigns are the same: money, message, and machine. But I think what's really important is to tailor your message to your district.
Oftentimes, our national party isn't necessarily in tune with moderate districts. In 2016, for example, the national Democratic Party was trying to make the race about Donald Trump — and I really didn't talk about Donald Trump. I talked about jobs, I talked about security, and I talked about equality.
And that means well-paying jobs with benefits for central Floridians. It means both strong national security to keep us safe from threats that come from abroad, but also pragmatic gun safety laws to keep us safe at home. And it means that everybody — no matter what zip code they're born in — should have a shot at the American Dream just like my family did.
Those issues were local issues that mattered to my community. So sometimes, if you’re running in a moderate district, you have to ignore national Democratic messaging.
Not only did you flip a Republican district in 2016, but you held onto your seat through tough re-election campaigns in 2018 and 2020. What does it take for a Democrat to win and then hold a highly competitive swing seat like yours, especially in a place like Florida that’s been trending right?
Well, first, I think you have to have the right message during the campaign — and then you have to deliver on those pragmatic changes when you are sitting in office. I think that's critically important in a community like mine where it's one third Democrat, one third Republican, and one third independent; nobody really cares where on the political spectrum you are so long as you're delivering for the community.
It was really important that I could demonstrate that I could deliver for this community. And that's why I was always so proud to have been named one of the most effective and bipartisan members of my freshman class. In my freshman class, I was a Democrat in a Republican-held house with a Republican Senate and a Republican in the White House. That meant that I was able to find common ground with people in both parties so long as it advanced the interest of Central Floridians.
I’d also add that we as Democrats have been successful in places where we don't just spend our money on TV, but where we build grassroots organizing capacity. Democrats need to be asked and reminded to go vote. They need to be brought into the discussion about what the issues are.
I think too many of the campaigns that we've had of late — especially here in Florida — have been waged on the airwaves. And that's been a waste of money. Nobody's convinced anymore by the torrent of ads that come during the campaign season because there are just too many and people aren't even connected to broadcast and cable anymore. So we really have to rethink how we're reaching voters and what we are saying to them.
Speaking of finding common ground, you made a name for yourself on Capitol Hill not only as a super effective, bipartisan legislator but as an outspoken moderate and a member of the notoriously centrist Blue Dog Caucus. Why are you a moderate and what does that mean to you?
I am a moderate because I'm a pragmatist. I believe that we should fight passionately for our principles and the things that matter to us, but in order to make change in this country, we have to move forward with pragmatic policy.
The Senate is always going to have to be a bipartisan institution because it has to get to 60 votes. And while I served in Congress, no party had 60 votes in the Senate. That meant if you wanted something signed into law, you had to get it through the Senate in a bipartisan way. So it didn't make a whole lot of sense to pass things out of the House that didn't have a chance to pass the Senate because then it would never become law.
The only way you can make a difference in the lives of your constituents is to have your policy ideas be signed into law. So it's out of necessity to deliver for my constituents that I'm a pragmatist.
You’ve also been a critic of the Democratic Party’s vocal far-left flank. In your view, where does the far-left go wrong in their approach to politics?
I really appreciate our activist left’s passion for the issues, and I think there's a real role for them to play in highlighting areas of concern.
But I believe that there's a distinction between being a legislator and an activist. And in Congress, if you wanna get things done, you have to be a legislator and leave the activism to those who don’t get the privilege or the responsibility of having a seat in Congress and a vote on the House floor. I think sometimes the activists allow their passions to prevent progress. As I've said, I think progress and moving this country forward is the purpose of Congress.
The other thing I find a little bit troubling is that the extremes of both parties are willing to spend against their very own moderates. And so the people who are reasonable in the middle trying to move things forward are attacked continually throughout a cycle — both by their own party and by the other side.
That makes it really difficult to keep people who are reasonable in office. You know, Congress always flips on that very narrow margin, and the seats that flip are usually held by members who represent moderate districts. They represent communities that want to see progress. They represent what I call the silent majority. Most Americans just want to see their government function and deliver progress for them, and instead what they see is the shouting from the extremes. That's not healthy. It undermines our democracy. It makes people lose faith in our institutions.
Why did you decide not to seek re-election in 2022?
Well, I have two young children and passions other than politics and a desire to be able to, you know, have a career.
I believe in a citizen Congress — I don't think people should go to Congress and stay there for their entire careers and become out of touch with the people they represent. I think our democracy was intended for people who’ve walked in the shoes of their constituents to show up in Congress and get some things done. And I think we got a lot done in the last historic Congress — from infrastructure to manufacturing to the environment to lowering the cost of prescription drugs — but I don't think anybody should stay for a lifetime. I think people should make room for new ideas. So it was just time to move on.
Also, as somebody who wants to be able to have a career in a life at some point after my time in public service, I found the character attacks by my own party, as a way to achieve party unity, really disconcerting. There's just so much pressure right now on any moderate member to vote party line. But when you vote party line, that doesn't necessarily represent your district, and there's not enough space in our party to allow people to vote their districts.
So there’s this odd dichotomy where your own party is attacking you in the off-year just for the other side to attack you in the on-year. And I don't know too many people who can withstand that, cycle after cycle, and not have their reputation and character maligned in ways that were meant for political motives and totally unrelated to who they really are.
It sounds like a two-front war…
Yeah, definitely a two front war.
And here’s what I would also add for those on the extreme flanks who think that the way they should achieve party unity is by personally attacking vulnerable, moderate members of their own party: for every dollar you spend in the off-year attacking your own party, it’s gonna take $10 in the on-year to repair that damage and win against the Republican. Take a look at the record so far of the Republican who's replaced me and see if you don't think as a Democrat you would prefer to have me there.
What do you hope to see from Democrats as you look forward to 2024 and beyond?
I hope the party gets back in touch with the American people. We like to say that we are the party of the people, but based on polling and the general American sentiment, they no longer think our party reflects average American values. I know firsthand that we have delivered on a lot of things that have helped average Americans, but when we talk, we tend to talk in faculty-room-speak as opposed to factory-floor-speak.
And we have to change that impression because I believe at the end of the day, Democrats are better for this country. Right now, the Republican party is going through a thing where it feels more like fascism and authoritarianism than it does democracy. And that's dangerous for us. We as a democracy deserve two healthy parties — and when the other one is so sick, it really is up to Democrats to step up. But we can't do that if we aren't speaking to the American people in a way that resonates with people and reflects their lived experiences.