Former U.S. Rep. running for Pa. AG

PHILADELPHIA (Legal Newsline) - Former U.S. Congressman Patrick Murphy of Pennsylvania is eyeing the state Attorney General's Office.

Murphy told the Philadelphia Intelligencer on Wednesday that he will run for the office in 2012.

Murphy, a Democrat, was elected to Congress in 2007. He was the first veteran of the Iraq War to serve.

He was re-elected to a second term in 2008, but lost his 8th District seat to Republican Mike Fitzpatrick -- his opponent in the 2006 race -- last fall.

"The people need someone to stand up for them and to protect them against criminals on the street and the special interests who prey on the most vulnerable, especially seniors," Murphy told the Intelligencer.

According to the newspaper, Murphy currently practices with Fox Rothschild in Philadelphia and Warrington. He lives in Bucks County with his wife and two children.

So far, two other Democrats have announced their bids for attorney general, including Dan McCaffery, a candidate for Philadelphia District Attorney in 2009, and Kathleen Granahan Kane, a career prosecutor from Scranton.

After former Attorney General Tom Corbett was sworn in as governor in January, William H. Ryan Jr. became the acting attorney general.

In February, Corbett nominated Linda L. Kelly to replace him. Kelly, 61, has been a prosecutor for more than 30 years, serving as both an assistant district attorney in Allegheny County and most recently as senior litigation counsel as Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania.

The state Senate is expected to hold confirmation hearings on her nomination next month.

If confirmed, she would become Pennsylvania's first female attorney general since the office became an elected position in 1980. The last woman to hold the post was Anne X. Alpern from 1959 to 1961.

Kelly has already promised not to run for the attorney general post in 2012.