Erin Murphy (born March 13, 1960) is an American politician serving as Majority Leader of the Minnesota Senate since 2024. A member of the

Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party The Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL) is a political party in the U.S. state of Minnesota affiliated with the national Democratic Party. The party was formed by a merger between the Minnesota Democratic Party and the Minneso ...

(DFL), she represents District 64, which includes the Highland Park, Macalester-Groveland, Merriam Park, Summit Hill, and St. Anthony Park, neighborhoods of the city of

Saint Paul Paul, also named Saul of Tarsus, commonly known as Paul the Apostle and Saint Paul, was a Christian apostle ( AD) who spread the teachings of Jesus in the first-century world. For his contributions towards the New Testament, he is generally ...

in Ramsey County in the

Twin Cities Twin cities are a special case of two neighboring cities or urban centres that grow into a single conurbation – or narrowly separated urban areas – over time. There are no formal criteria, but twin cities are generally comparable in stat ...

metropolitan area. She is a former Majority Leader of the Minnesota House of Representatives, executive director of the

Minnesota Nurses Association The Minnesota Nurses Association (MNA) is a labor union representing 22,000 registered nurses in the U.S. state of Minnesota. MNA represents the majority of bedside nurses in the state of Minnesota, as well as nurses in Wisconsin and Iowa. They ar ...

, and is also a

registered nurse A registered nurse (RN) is a healthcare professional who has graduated or successfully passed a nursing program from a recognized nursing school and met the requirements outlined by a country, state, province or similar government-authorized ...

Education

Murphy graduated from high school in Janesville,

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

, and attended the

University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh The University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh (UW Oshkosh or UWO) is a public university in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, United States. It is part of the University of Wisconsin System and offers bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degree programs to around 13,0 ...

, receiving her B.S. in nursing in 1984. She earned her

M.A. A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

organizational leadership Leadership studies is a multidisciplinary academic field of study that focuses on leadership in organizational contexts and in human life. Leadership studies has origins in the social sciences (e.g., sociology, anthropology, psychology), in humani ...

in health care at the College of St. Catherine in

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

in 2005, and also attended the Humphrey Institute at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

from 2005 to 2006 as a policy fellow.

Career and community service

Murphy is a former executive director of the Minnesota Nurses Association and has also worked for the organization as a lobbyist and organizer. She worked in state government as legislative director for former

Minnesota Attorney General The attorney general of Minnesota is a constitutional officer in the executive branch of the U.S. state of Minnesota. Thirty individuals have held the office of Attorney General since statehood. The incumbent is Keith Ellison, a Democratic-Farme ...

Hubert H. Humphrey III, and as community relations director for the Minnesota Department of Children, Families and Learning. She was also an operating room nurse at the

University of Minnesota Medical Center M Health Fairview University of Minnesota Medical Center (UMMC) previously known as University of Minnesota Medical Center, is a 1700-bed non-profit, tertiary, research and academic medical center located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, servicing the ...

. Murphy served on the board of directors of Citizens for a Safer Minnesota from 1999 to 2001, and as a member of the board of trustees of the

American Nurses Association The American Nurses Association (ANA) is a 501(c)(6) professional organization to advance and protect the profession of nursing. It started in 1896 as the Nurses Associated Alumnae and was renamed the American Nurses Association in 1911. It is b ...

political action committee In the United States, a political action committee (PAC) is a tax-exempt 527 organization that pools campaign contributions from members and donates those funds to campaigns for or against candidates, ballot initiatives, or legislation. The l ...

. She was also an executive board member of the Minnesota chapter of the

AFL–CIO The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) is a national trade union center that is the largest federation of unions in the United States. It is made up of 61 national and international unions, together r ...

Political career

State House

Murphy was first elected in

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

, and reelected in

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

, and

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

. She served on the Rules and Legislative Administration Committee, the Health Care and Human Services Policy and Oversight Committee, the Taxes Committee, the Finance Subcommittee for Health Care and Human Services Finance Division, and the Health Care and Human Services Policy and Oversight Subcommittee for the Licensing Division. After the 2012 elections, Murphy was elected by the DFL House caucus to be Majority Leader. She served in this role until the DFL lost its majority in 2015.

2018 gubernatorial campaign

Murphy announced her candidacy for

governor of Minnesota The governor of Minnesota is the head of government of the U.S. state of Minnesota, leading the state's executive branch. Forty people have been governor of Minnesota, though historically there were also three governors of Minnesota Territory ...

on November 17, 2016. She said her top priorities in office would be ensuring proper care for Minnesota's aging population, lessening the educational achievement gap, reducing racial disparities among Minnesotans, and bringing more jobs to Minnesota. Murphy supported a statewide single-payer healthcare system. She earned the endorsement of the Minnesota DFL at its annual convention in Rochester on June 2, 2018, after seven rounds of voting.

Lori Swanson Lori Swanson (born December 16, 1966) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the Minnesota Attorney General, attorney general of Minnesota from 2007 to 2019. She was the first female attorney general elected in Minnesota. In 2018 Min ...

announced her candidacy after the convention, where she lost the endorsement for attorney general. U.S. Representative

Tim Walz Timothy James Walz (; born April 6, 1964) is an American politician who has served since 2019 as the 41st governor of Minnesota. He was the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic nominee for Vice President of the United States, vice pre ...

defeated Murphy and Swanson in the August 14 primary and was elected governor in November.

State Senate

In October 2019, Murphy announced she would launch a primary campaign against State Senator Dick Cohen. Murphy's House district covered the northern half of Cohen's Senate district. The next month, Cohen dropped out of the race. Murphy was elected to the

Minnesota Senate The Minnesota Senate is the upper house of the Minnesota Legislature, Legislature of the U.S. state of Minnesota. At 67 members, half as many as the Minnesota House of Representatives, it is the largest upper house of any State legislature (Unite ...

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

. As of 2024, she is the chair of the Rules and Administration committee and also serves on both the Finance committee and the Higher Education committee. The Senate DFL caucus selected Murphy as majority leader in February 2024, following the resignation of

Kari Dziedzic Kari Dziedzic ( ; June 5, 1962 – December 27, 2024) was an American politician and member of the Minnesota Senate. A member of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL), she represented District 60, which includes portions of th ...

due to health concerns. Senate President

Bobby Joe Champion Bobby Joe Champion (born December 17, 1963) is an American attorney and politician serving as a member of the Minnesota Senate. A member of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL), he represents the 59th district, which includes port ...

supported Murphy, and Senator

Ann Rest Ann H. Rest (born April 24, 1942) is an American politician and President pro tempore of the Minnesota Senate. A member of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL), she represents District 43 which includes portions of the western su ...

said Murphy had unanimous support from the DFL caucus. State Republican Chair

David Hann David W. Hann (born April 16, 1952) is an American politician and a former minority leader of the Minnesota Senate. A Republican, he represented District 48, which consisted of the cities of Eden Prairie and Minnetonka, from 2003-2017. He was t ...

called Murphy's views extreme.

Personal life

Murphy has lived in Saint Paul since moving there in 1988. She has been married to Joe Faust since 1989, and they have two children. She identifies as

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

References

External links

*
Project Votesmart - Rep. Erin Murphy Profile
, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Murphy, Erin 1960 births 21st-century American women politicians Democratic Party members of the Minnesota House of Representatives Democratic Party Minnesota state senators Humphrey School of Public Affairs alumni Living people People from Columbus, Wisconsin Politicians from Saint Paul, Minnesota St. Catherine University alumni University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh alumni Women state legislators in Minnesota 21st-century members of the Minnesota Legislature