Mt. Airy activist Dan Muroff makes a run for Congress

Posted 2/10/16

Dan Muroff by Pete Mazzaccaro Dan Muroff, a 13-year resident of Mt. Airy, knew when Congressman Chaka Fattah was indicted on a laundry list of criminal charges, including bribery, racketeering, money …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

Log in

Mt. Airy activist Dan Muroff makes a run for Congress

Posted
Dan Muroff Dan Muroff

by Pete Mazzaccaro

Dan Muroff, a 13-year resident of Mt. Airy, knew when Congressman Chaka Fattah was indicted on a laundry list of criminal charges, including bribery, racketeering, money laundering, bank fraud, mail and wire fraud and filing false statements, that the field to replace him would be “robust.”

Nonetheless, he announced his intention to seek to replace the longtime congressman from Pennsylvania’s Second Division at a Jan. 28 event at Alma Mater in Mt. Airy.

“I’m not running to contrast myself against the congressman,” Muroff said over coffee the next day at the same place. “I’m merely presenting myself to the voters. If you’re looking for an alternative, I’m someone to consider.”

Muroff, 49, is a Democratic candidate in a Democratic primary field that includes five likely challengers, including the incumbent. The other three in the race are (most likely) longtime State Rep. Dwight Evans, Center City State Rep. Brian Sims and Lower Merion Township Commissioner Brian Gordon.

This is Muroff’s first run for office, but he’s no stranger to politics. After getting a law degree at Chicago Kent College of Law in the 1990s, Muroff has worked in government. He started in environmental policy at Cook County in Illinois and went on to work for congressmen as a policy advisor and even as a chief of staff for congressmen ranging from Mike Capuano and Jim McGovern of Massachusetts to Jo Hoeffel of Pennsylvania.

In recent years he has been an attorney in private practice, working mostly for nonprofits and charitable organizations. He’s been the Leader of the 9th Ward Democratic Committee in Chestnut Hill and Mt. Airy for about five years.

But Muroff is not in it, he said, for the politics. It’s about civic engagement. The chance to make a difference.

“When I moved here, I wanted to be much more community oriented,” he said, explaining his move from DC to East Mt. Airy. “We chose Mt Airy for a reason. It’s a personal passion for me.”

Soon after relocating to Mt. Airy, Muroff joined the board of East Mt. Airy Neighbors and served as its president for several years. Following that, he served as president of the boards of both Cease Fire Pennsylvania and the Conservation Voters of Pennsylvania.

The passion to get involved in community, he said, is formed by his family and his childhood.

Muroff’s parents lived in a modest twin in Havertown. His father was in the garment business, and his mother was an employee of the School District of Philadelphia and was a driving force behind the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers. His mother’s activism gave him an early look at the power of civic engagement.

In addition, Muroff said his older sister was a lifelong addict who drifted in and out of halfway houses and the family home only to disappear in North Philadelphia some 19 years ago.

“I know how one person’s substance abuse devastates an entire family,” he said. “It lit a fire. I see that leads to other ills and violence because of desperation and hopelessness … I think of mothers who worry about their kids going to school. Give their kids a hug and wonder, is that the last one? We shouldn’t live that way. I don’t accept that we can’t do anything about it.”

It’s a difficult thing to talk about, he said, but important to note as what has motivated him to pursue a career in public service.

“I need to tell people who I am and what makes me do what I want to do,” he said. “This is a lifetime mission for me. In my faith in Judaism, there’s a phrase ‘tikkun olam.’ It means “repair the world.” If there is a mission in Judaism it’s to do that. I guess that’s what it is”

With those things in mind, Muroff’s platform is a solid, progressive one that focuses on economic opportunity, the environment and social justice.

At the top of that list is gun control. Muroff applauded President Barak Obama’s recent executive orders limiting online gun sales and said more need to be done.

“It’s a major public health problem,” Muroff said of guns. “There needs to be an awareness that we won’t yield to those who are just louder. We need criminal background checks. Anyone who thinks that’s an infringement on Second Amendment rights – I don’t get it.”

Also important to Muroff is climate change and the environment, issues he’s worked on since he graduated from college.

“I think the biggest existential threat to us globally and to our national security that we may not even recognize now, is climate change,” he said. “It’s not just climate change. That’s the biggest immediate problem. What about urban asthma and what about what happened in Flint?”

If he does get elected, Muroff said he understands that effecting change on those things he cares about would require a lot of work.

“Going to Washington as a freshman lawmaker and thinking you’re going to make a big impact legislatively is either naive or disingenuous,” he said. “This is where I think I have an advantage. I’ve never controlled the purse strings. I’ve never been someone’s appropriator. As an attorney for nonprofits, I’ve always been able to work behind the scenes and figure out how to get it done.

“I care about community,” he said. “I care about economic development on the ground. One of the things I’m most proud of as an attorney is helping the Center City District secure $15 million for Dilworth Plaza, which became Dilworth Park. I also am proud of work I did for Career Wardrobe, which helps women transition to the workforce. I helped them restore their funding.”

Currently, Muroff is focused on doing the best he can to meet voters in the district. It’s a large one that runs through the entire western half of the city and into the Main Line. He hopes his ties both to Northwest Philadelphia and Narberth and Lower Merion will help him.

He said the biggest surprise on the campaign trail has been that process, particularly calling voters and donors.

“I talked to Allyson Schwartz,” Muroff said. “She said – and I agree – 'I get something from talking to people.' Yes, you’re looking to raise money, but some people take it as an opportunity to vent. Or to make a suggestion. In some ways, this is the process at its best. There’s value in reaching out to people. You’re not talking to millionaires. These are people who write $100 $200 checks.”

But Muroff said he has had help.

“The best part of all of this is my wife,” he said.

He met his wife, Melissa, at Chicago Kent Law College. She, too is an attorney.

“Sometimes doing this, you have your ups and downs,” he added. “She’s like dynamic and phenomenal I don’t know what I’d do without her.”

For more on Muroff’s campaign, visit muroffforcongress.com.

featured, mt-airy, news