Stephen Murphy (Alabama)
Stephen Murphy was a nonpartisan candidate for District 2 representative on the Birmingham City Council in Alabama. Murphy was defeated in the general election on August 22, 2017.
Biography
Murphy attended P. D. Jackson-Olin High School. He received a bachelor's degree in social work from the University of Alabama at Birmingham and a master's degree in social work from the University of Alabama. He received licenses to practice social work in Alabama and Mississippi. His professional experience includes serving as director of risk management & regulatory compliance at a psychiatric hospital.[1]
Elections
2017
The city of Birmingham, Alabama, held elections for mayor and city council on August 22, 2017. A runoff was held on October 3, 2017. The filing deadline for candidates who wished to run in this election was July 7, 2017.
The following candidates ran in the Birmingham City Council District 2 general election.[2]
| Birmingham City Council, District 2 General Election, 2017 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Hunter Williams |
29.31% | 1,123 |
| Kim Rafferty Incumbent |
17.36% | 665 |
| Deanna Reed | 14.62% | 560 |
| Lawrence Conaway | 11.67% | 447 |
| Tyrone Williams | 9.42% | 361 |
| Kimberly Jeanty | 8.12% | 311 |
| Jordan Thompson | 4.91% | 188 |
| Stephen Murphy | 4.59% | 176 |
| Total Votes | 3,831 | |
| Source: City of Birmingham, "General Election Results," August 29, 2017 | ||
Campaign themes
2017
Murphy participated in Ballotpedia's 2017 survey of municipal government candidates.[3] The following sections display his responses to the survey questions. When asked what his top priority would be if elected, the candidate made the following statement:
| “ | Increasing Community Involvement, Taking a Comprehensive Approach to Education, Ensuring the Public Feels Safe, and Supporting Businesses[4] | ” |
| —Stephen Murphy (July 30, 2017)[5] | ||
Ranking the issues
The candidate was asked to rank the following issues by importance in the city, with 1 being the most important and 12 being the least important: city services (trash, utilities, etc.), civil rights, crime reduction/prevention, environment, government transparency, homelessness, housing, K-12 education, public pensions/retirement funds, recreational opportunities, transportation, and unemployment. This table displays this candidate's rankings from most to least important.
| Issue importance ranking | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate's ranking |
Issue | Candidate's ranking |
Issue |
| K-12 education | Recreational opportunities | ||
| Unemployment | Civil rights | ||
| Government transparency | City services (trash, utilities, etc.) | ||
| Housing | Environment | ||
| Transportation | Crime reduction/prevention | ||
| Homelessness | Public pensions/retirement funds | ||
Nationwide municipal issues
The candidate was asked to answer questions from Ballotpedia regarding issues facing cities across America. The questions are in the left column and the candidate's responses are in the right column. Some questions provided multiple choices, which are noted after those questions.
| Question | Response |
|---|---|
| Very important | |
| Local | |
| Increased economic opportunities | |
| Focusing on small business development | |
| The citizens; I've learned from the campaign trail that the citizens of Birmingham really care about what's happening in the city. | |
| We need to create/increase opportunities for citizen input in Birmingham's government. |
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Stephen Murphy Birmingham City Council. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
| Birmingham, Alabama | Alabama | Municipal government | Other local coverage |
|---|---|---|---|
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 |
 |
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External links
- Birmingham City Council
- Campaign website
- Social media
Footnotes
- ↑ Stephen Murphy campaign website, "Meet Stephen," accessed August 1, 2017
- ↑ AL.com, "Meet the candidates for Birmingham City Council," July 7, 2017
- ↑ Note: The candidate's answers have been reproduced here verbatim without edits or corrections by Ballotpedia.
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Ballotpedia's municipal government candidate survey, 2017, "Stephen Murphy's Responses," July 30, 2017
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