Patrick Murphy represents Florida's 18th congressional district in the House of Representatives. Before defeating certified lunatic Allen West by 0.8% in the most expensive House race in history, he worked for his father's construction business and prior to that, he spent a year at Deloitte.

A couple of days ago, Murph (I feel like that's what people call him) announced that he would run for Marco Rubio's Senate seat. Rubio has gone on record that he won't run for re-election to the Senate if he runs for President, so that bodes well for young Patrick.

In any case, AICPA President, CEO and certified Zumba instructor Barry Melancon, CPA, CGMA, approves:

As a CPA, Representative Patrick Murphy is the personification of the problem-solving accountant. He brings financial expertise, a bipartisan approach, and a can-do attitude to his work in Congress. We are pleased by his decision to run for the Senate.

Fun fact: Murph got arrested in 2003 as a freshman at the University of Miami (FL) for drunken disorderly and for possession of a fake ID. Here's the story from the Palm Beach Post:

A Miami Beach Police arrest affidavit said Murphy and his friend were escorted from the club by security, appeared drunk and were disrupting business near the club entrance. After being warned they would be arrested if they didn’t leave, the police report said Murphy and his friend left in a cab. But the cab quickly returned with the driver complaining that the passengers were drunk and refusing to pay the fare, the report said.

 

That’s when police said they asked for Murphy’s identification and discovered a phony New Jersey driver license that listed him as 21 years old. The report says Murphy continued to be disorderly, cursed at police and was placed under arrest.

The drunken disorderly charge was dropped and the fake ID count dismissed but Murph still called it the "biggest mistake of my life.” Incredibly, I haven't found anything that connects the statement to his stint at Deloitte. Go figure. Anyway, hopefully he won't repeat anything like that during his political career (he probably will). 

Oh! And he turns 32 on Monday. Good luck, Murph. Better you than me.

[AICPA, CNN]

Image: Patrick Murphy, official portrait, 114th Congress

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