Murphy campaigns on transparency, ending partisanship in auditor’s office

The man who oversaw federal stimulus spending in Iowa says that experience — monitoring the flow of about $2.4 billion into the Hawkeye State from over 80 federal programs — has helped prepare him to be state’s auditor.

Jon Muprhy

“It fits well with the service I’ve provided this state,” said Jon Murphy, the Democratic candidate for the Nov. 2 elections.

Murphy, who faces incumbent State Auditor David Vaudt, touts his Iowa roots and resume, saying he’s ready to be an effective state auditor.

Murphy, 39, from Des Moines and a Dowling Catholic High School and Iowa State University graduate, launched the latter school’s first office in Washington, D.C., in 2001, where he developed ISU’s legislative agenda. Prior to that, Murphy worked for U.S. Rep. Leonard Boswell, D-Des Moines, as a legislative assistant in Washington, D.C., during which time his primary responsibility was staffing Boswell’s work on the House Agriculture Committee.

In March 2007, Gov. Chet Culver nominated Murphy to become director of the Iowa Office for State-Federal Relations. In that role, he helped secure federal money to fight the 2008 floods. In 2009, Murphy began leading Iowa’s American Reinvestment Act team.

He’s been on a leave of absence since June 26 to seek the auditor’s position.

In the campaign, Murphy has been billing himself as the state’s “chief transparency” officer — should he win election. He pledges to create user-friendly Web tools that will allow Iowans to search and track how their tax dollars are being spent — similar to what he did with the stimulus money that flows through state government into the Iowa economy. That money can be tracked though the public website, www.recovery.iowa.gov.

“I’ve been an advocate and implementer of state and federal programs for nearly a dozen years,” Murphy said. “Now I want to make sure they are being executed in an accountable and transparent way.”

There is currently no centralized location when an Iowan goes to track tax dollars, he said.

“What I want to do is take the model that we’ve built and expand it across a broader part of state government,” Murphy said.

In an interview, Murphy said he plans to visit each of Iowa’s 99 counties every year he’s in office.

“Iowans expect to talk to their elected officials personally,” Murphy said. “I think that’s something that’s refreshing about Iowans.”

Murphy said he believes Vaudt has been overly partisan, going so far as to appear with former Gov. Terry Branstad at events and in campaign commercials and mailings for the Republican gubernatorial candidate who is seeking his fifth term.

“He (Vaudt) has politicized an office in which Iowans have rightfully come to expect a high degree of impartiality, objectivity and independence out of,” Murphy said.

Murphy says he will not endorse candidates for state and local office if elected as auditor.

“There shouldn’t even be a perception of partisan politics,” Murphy said.

He charged that Vaudt is making more headlines with political appearances than doing the actual job of state auditor.

“That’s cause for concern,” he said.

For his part, Murphy is a Des Moines native, the youngest of eight children, a 1988 graduate of Dowling Catholic High School and a 1994 Iowa State University graduate. He’s an avid runner who has completed seven marathons.

Murphy and his wife, Katherine Lefert, a pediatric physical therapist at ChildServe in Johnston, live in the Des Moines neighborhood of Sherman Hill with their son, Hank, 1.