Patrick Erin Murphy (born March 30, 1983) is an American businessman, accountant, and politician.

In March 2015, he announced his intentions to run in the 2016 United States Senate election in Florida; in August 2016 he won the Democratic primary.

[4][5] As a 19-year-old freshman college student in 2003, Murphy was arrested outside a Miami Beach nightclub on charges of disorderly intoxication and possessing a fake driver's license.

"[6] Murphy studied business administration at the University of Miami, earning a bachelor's degree with dual majors in finance and accounting in 2006.

[7][9] PolitiFact.com found that "Murphy's description of his past employment is based on actual circumstances, but at times he omits a full explanation.

The funding was led by Tampa, Florida-based venture capital firm Florida Funders, along with investors including executives from Facebook parent Meta and Goldman Sachs.

However, it had been made significantly more compact in the 2010 round of redistricting, losing most of its heavily Republican western portion to the new 17th district.

In the general election, Murphy faced Republican incumbent Allen West, a freshman congressman who ran for reelection in the 18th after his former district, the 22nd, had been made significantly more Democratic in redistricting.

In the general election, Murphy said that he was so taken aback by some of the things West was saying in Congress and on television that he felt compelled to run against him.

[12][16] West had called Democrats "Communists", said that Social Security was "akin to slavery", and had fired a pistol near a prisoner's head when serving in the Iraq War.

West initially indicated that his campaign would seek to challenge the results, but he conceded defeat after Murphy's victory became apparent.

[21][22][23] Murphy ran for re-election in 2014, and was a member of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's Frontline program, designed to protect their most vulnerable incumbents.

[27] He says he switched from being a Republican and a Romney supporter because of his disgust with the Tea Party movement, also citing his opponent Allen West's fiery rhetoric.

[28] Murphy is regarded as one of the more moderate Democrats in Florida's congressional delegation; he describes himself as "fiscally responsible, socially progressive.

"[5] He was described in The Huffington Post as a "pro-choice, pro-LGBT rights but 'not ultra-liberal' Democrat who values fiscal responsibility.

"[12] The top five contributors to his campaign committee for the 2013-2014 time period were his family's construction company, professional services firm Deloitte, plumbing company Suntech Plumbing, multinational investment banking firm Goldman Sachs, and the PAC of the liberal foreign policy organization J Street.

[32] In 2014 Murphy was one of 36 members of Congress to sign a letter urging the U.S. House Appropriations Committee to block a U.S. Department of Education proposal to tighten regulation of for-profit universities.