Austin Murphy

Austin John Murphy Jr. (June 17, 1927 – April 13, 2024) was an American politician who served as a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania from 1977 to 1995.

Personal life
Born in North Charleroi, Pennsylvania, to Austin John Murphy Sr. and the former Evelyn F. Spence, Murphy grew up in New London, Connecticut. He later returned to Charleroi and served in the United States Marine Corps from 1944 to 1946. He earned a B.A. at Duquesne University in 1949 and an LL.B. at the University of Pittsburgh in 1952 and was admitted to the Pennsylvania bar in 1953. He practiced law in Washington, Pennsylvania, and was an assistant district attorney for Washington County before he was elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in 1958.

Murphy married Elieen Ramona McNamara Murphy on March 1, 1953, and they had seven children, 19 grandchildren, and 17 great-grandchildren. Mona died March 1, 2016, in Nevada. Austin died on April 13, 2024, at age 96.

Political career
Murphy started his political career as a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, where he served from 1959 to 1971. He then served in the Pennsylvania State Senate from 1971 to 1977. In 1976, he was elected to the United States House of Representatives, replacing longtime incumbent Thomas E. Morgan. He served as a delegate to the Democratic National Conventions in 1984 and 1988.

Scandals
Murphy was reprimanded by the 100th Congress in December 1987 for ghost voting and misusing House funds. He diverted government resources to his former law firm, had a ghost employee on his House payroll and had someone else cast votes for him in the House. The scandal ultimately led to his decision not to seek reelection in 1994.

In May 1999, Murphy was indicted by a Fayette County grand jury of engaging in voter fraud. He was charged with forgery, conspiracy, and tampering with public records. Murphy insisted that he was only trying to help elderly nursing home residents fill out paperwork that accompanied an absentee ballot. According to the grand jury, Murphy and two others forged absentee ballots for residents of the nursing home and then added Murphy's wife, Eileen Murphy, as a write-in candidate for township election judge. The next month, following closed-door negotiations, all but one of the voter fraud charges were dropped. Following the hearing, he left the building by a back door to avoid an angry crowd outside. He was sentenced to six months probation and fifty hours of community service.