Oct 29, 2012 3 min read

In the 10 years since voters in the 18th Congressional District first sent Upper St. Clair Republican Tim Murphy to Capitol Hill, he’s had a relatively easy time getting his ticket punched for return trips, thanks to a succession of Democratic opponents with no name recognition and empty war chests. This year, however, Murphy’s bid for a sixth term has been complicated by a primary challenge from the right; redrawn district lines that encompass more of Washington County and a large slice of Greene County that had previously been represented by congressmen John Murtha and Mark Critz; and Larry Maggi as a general election opponent. Maggi, the Washington County commissioner, has assets that his predecessors have conspicuously lacked: name recognition and a reliable base of support. In theory, at least, Maggi should be a formidable opponent. But he is not. Though he has been an able commissioner and, before that, a sheriff, Maggi has displayed a disappointing lack of preparation for this campaign. In a discussion with the Observer-Reporter’s editorial board, he demonstrated little detailed understanding of national or international issues that he would confront as a congressman, offering only the vaguest generalities. On the evidence of this campaign, Maggi is best suited to be a public servant in Washington County, not Washington, D.C. For that reason alone, we believe Tim Murphy deserves re-election. But this endorsement is not just a reflection of Maggi’s weaknesses. Though he is sometimes hard to pin down ideologically – perhaps in part to the Democratic registration edge in the district – Murphy’s deep knowledge of policy is worthy of respect from partisans on both sides of the aisle and stands in stark contrast to his opponent. A psychologist by training, Murphy has immersed himself in health care issues, supporting measures that would allow doctors to volunteer at health centers and has called for the public reporting of hospital-acquired infections, the reduction of which would help lower health care costs and improve outcomes. Though he was not a supporter of President Obama’s Affordable Care Act, Murphy is realistic and pragmatic about its likely implementation – in a discussion with the editorial board, he noted that it would take both a President Mitt Romney and a filibuster-proof 60-vote Republican super-majority in the U.S. Senate to pull that off, the former of which is still to be determined. Murphy has also bucked some of his party’s free-trade fundamentalists in his efforts to punish China for its artificially lowering the value of its currency, which has driven down the cost of Chinese goods on these shores and has cost American jobs. This has won Murphy the trust of both manufacturers and unions in his district. The conventional wisdom has it that elections are, more often than not, a referendum on the incumbent. However, a challenger should pass muster as a plausible alternative. In this case, the challenger is not. Given that fact, and his own accomplishments, we believe Murphy should win the support of voters in the 18th Congressional District.