Kerrywoman launches US Congress bid

AN UPSTATE New Yorker from Kerry has launched her campaign to become the first Irish-born Congresswoman in the US House of Representatives.

Syracuse lawyer, Brianne Murphy, 31, who emigrated with her family when she was four, will challenge former Representative Dan Maffei in a primary next year as the Democrats attempt to take back the 25th Congressional District seat next November.

Maffei lost out narrowly by 648 votes to Ann Marie Buerkle after a tense campaign just over a year ago and Murphy’s inexperience is sure to make it an uphill battle.

However, Murphy hopes to use her status as political outsider in order to attract reluctant voters.

“My main strategy is to get out and talk to voters, hear what they have to say, and relate to them,” Murphy said. “I think people are interested in hearing a fresh voice and having an advocate.

“Relating to voters is going to be my strongest asset in my primary against Mr Maffei. I think that’s one area where Mr Maffei really struggles.”

Murphy’s late mother Lynn, an Irish American, met an Abbeyfeale farmer while on holidays in Kerry and later relocated there to marry him. The couple had four children, Brianne the second eldest, but the marriage ended and Lynn returned to New York with her children.

After her mother died, Murphy worked to help pay her way through George Washington University and Brooklyn Law School.

“As an immigrant, and someone who worked to put herself through college and law school, I understand how people struggle,” she said.

Murphy worked as a lawyer in Washington DC but moved back to Syracuse last year to open her own law practice.

“People are hurting, Washington is broke, and I think we need a representative who understands the problems people are facing. People are tired to extreme partisan politicking. We need someone who represents Central New York, and not someone who is out of touch.”