[citation needed] Murphy entered politics in 1952 by joining the leadership of the California Republican Party, having also directed the entertainment for the Eisenhower-Nixon inauguration that same year.

In 1964, he was elected as a Republican to the Senate, having defeated Pierre Salinger, the former presidential press secretary in the Kennedy White House, who had been appointed several months earlier to serve the remainder of the late Clair Engle's unexpired term.

In 1966, he hosted a fundraising dinner in Atlanta, for U.S. Representative Howard "Bo" Callaway, the first Republican candidate for Governor of Georgia since Reconstruction.

Murphy's surgery and staunch support for the lingering Vietnam War worked against him, as did reports that he had continued to receive a salary from Technicolor after taking office.

[7] Despite Governor Ronald Reagan’s 7% Re-election victory in the concurrent gubernatorial election, [1] Murphy lost his seat to Tunney by a vote of 3,496,558 (54%) to 2,877,617 (44%).

[12] Murphy was married to his ballroom dancing partner, Juliette "Julie" Henkel-Johnson, from December 18, 1926, until her death, in 1973.

[citation needed] Murphy's move from the screen to California politics paved the way for the successful transitions of actors such as Ronald Reagan and later Arnold Schwarzenegger.

After 1971, the candy-desk duties were bequeathed to a string of successors; as of 2023, the keeper of the candy desk is Indiana Republican Todd Young.