On the ground

Yesterday, Scott Murphy was sworn in as a Member of the U.S. House of Representatives, representing the 20th Congressional District of New York.

Yay!

All sorts of folks were tickled about the way matters turned out (although we knew they would!). House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer released a statement for the press:

“I am thrilled to welcome our two newest members – Congressmen Mike Quigley and Scott Murphy. Both gentlemen come to Washington with extensive experience on the key issues confronting this Congress, and will be valued contributors as we work to get the economy back on track and address other important priorities. …

“I am also pleased to welcome Congressman Scott Murphy. With a background in both the private and public sectors, Mr. Murphy has a deep understanding of the impact the economic recession has had on workers and businesses, and will be a strong asset in Congress’s continuing efforts to create jobs and grow the economy.

“These challenging times call for leaders who are up to the task of working hard and getting the job done. I am confident Congressmen Murphy and Quigley will meet that challenge, and I look forward to working with them on real solutions to move this country forward.”

Very much more to the point, our very own Chairwoman, Cindy Lockrow-Schimmerling, was on hand to hobnob with the muckety-mucks as an acknowledged muckety-muck herself. After giving herself the pleasure of inspecting Congressman Murphy’s door plaque to make sure it was worded correctly, she attended the post-swearing in reception — where Vice President Biden was congratulating the new Congressman and playfully terrorizing small children.

* Phraseology loosely based on Lolcats.

We’ve been a bit remiss about keeping the blog up to date during the course of this nail-biter election, for which we humbly apologize.

On the other hand, for the past month there has been little to say except, “They’re still counting.”

Well, that and, “They decided that Senator Gillibrand is allowed to vote in this district.”

Well, the only race in town ended today when Jim Tedisco conceded late this afternoon and Scott Murphy went public as our new Congressman!

Let me say that again, in the much more straight-forward words of our Chairwoman, Cindy Lockrow-Schimmerling:

WE HAVE A NEW CONGRESSMAN, AND HIS NAME IS SCOTT MURPHY!!!

Break out the bubbly, folks, and rack up another victory for the D Team. I don’t know about you but I could get used to this.

As a matter of fact, it’s a good sign for the upcoming local races. More on that in the coming months.

In some ways, you know, there’s nothing more dreary than a Special Election set for the end of March, the most bedraggled time of here up here in Delaware County.

Fortunately for us, Scott Murphy is bringing his own sunshine as our candidate to replace Senator Kirsten Gillibrand as Representative for the 20th Congressional District.

Scott, a newcomer to New York politics, began his campaign as an unknown figure but he has been working hard, traveling around the district and talking to voters about their concerns. Now, according to the latest Sienna poll, he has pulled to within 4 points of his opponent, Republican Jim Tadisco, minority leader in the State Assembly, derisively known as “Mr. Schenectady” among disaffected voters in the Capital District.

We’ll just note that’s within the margin of error.

So, if you would like to participate in this special election and help us to get Scott into the House of Representatives, you can do that by visiting www.dccc.org/ny20/ and making use of the tools you’ll find there to do some phone banking!

Ain’t technology grand?

We’re coming down to the wire and can use all the help we can get. So, if you have any spare time and minutes on your cell phone, visit www.dccc.org/ny20/ and make some calls. And thanks for your help and support!

On Thursday, Scott Murphy, candidate for Congress in New York’s 20th District, will join supporters to officially launch his congressional campaign at his new headquarters at 3 Warren Street in Glens Falls.

At the event, Scott will highlight why he is running for Congress and his vision to capitalize on his business experience to create and save jobs in Upstate New York. As a successful entrepreneur, Murphy has helped to create over 1,000 jobs in New York.

If you happen to be in the area or want to call your Great Aunt Gertrude to urge her to attend, here’s the particulars:

WHO: Candidate Scott Murphy, Local Supporters

WHAT: Candidate Scott Murphy to Join Supporters at New Headquarters to Officially Launch Congressional Campaign; Murphy to Highlight Record of Job Creation and Need for Economic Recovery

WHERE: Scott Murphy for Congress Campaign Headquarters, 3 WARREN STREET, GLENS FALLS, NY

WHEN: 12:30 PM on Thursday, February 12, 2009

After an exhaustive process that didn’t involve any closed doors, back rooms or cigar smoke, the Democratic Committee chairs from the ten upstate counties in the NY20th Congressional District have selected Scott Murphy as the Democratic candidate for the congressional seat vacated by our former Congresswoman, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand.

Murphy is an outstanding candidate, combining political and business background into exactly the sort of experience we need representing us in Washington right now. He grew up in the Midwest and, after college, served as aide, deputy chief of staff and chief fundraiser for two governors of Missouri, Democrats Mel Carnahan (who will always be fondly remembered as the man who defeated John Ashcroft for U.S. Senate, even though he died before Election Day) and Roger Wilson.

After a brief stint on Wall Street with Bankers Trust, Scott became an entrepreneur, founding two different Internet-related businesses: Small World Sports, a pioneer in providing fantasy sports games that was sold to Vulcan Ventures/The Sporting News and is now the engine that runs The Sporting News fantasy games; and a web consultancy that was sold to IXL, which went public and later merged with Scient.

For the last eight years, he has been with Advantage Capital investing in job-creating new companies located in areas that don’t usually have access to equity capital. His job is to find promising companies, close investment deals for them and help them grow. Advantage Capital itself invests in companies that offer both excellent investor returns and significant community impact.

In light of the current state of the economy in New York and in the nation, we couldn’t choose a better person to send to Washington on our behalf.

We’re excited about Scott Murphy and look forward to having him as our next Congressman from the 20th Congressional District of New York!