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Sen. Murphy's Marathon March Continues Through Fairfield

FAIRFIELD, Conn. -- Abigail Lorge thought she might have a chance to see U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy on Friday morning, but she never thought she would have a 10-minute sitdown with him during his walk across the state.

U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy speaking with Fairfield resident Abigail Lorge and her daughter Eliza at the Driftwood Café in Southport Friday. Murphy is walking across the state to speak with his constituents.

U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy speaking with Fairfield resident Abigail Lorge and her daughter Eliza at the Driftwood Café in Southport Friday. Murphy is walking across the state to speak with his constituents.

Photo Credit: Frank MacEachern
U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, joined by state Rep. Cristin McCarthy Vahey in Southport Friday. Murphy is walking across the state to speak with his constituents.

U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, joined by state Rep. Cristin McCarthy Vahey in Southport Friday. Murphy is walking across the state to speak with his constituents.

Photo Credit: Frank MacEachern
U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy walking towards the Driftwood Café in Southport Friday. Murphy is walking across the state to speak with his constituents.

U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy walking towards the Driftwood Café in Southport Friday. Murphy is walking across the state to speak with his constituents.

Photo Credit: Frank MacEachern

"I did not," Lorge said after speaking with Murphy (D-Conn.) in the Driftwood Café in Southport. "I was very surprised he sat down with us and spent some time with us. We really got to spend some facetime. I was pleasantly surprised. I was just hoping to catch a glimpse of him."

Lorge, a Fairfield resident who brought along her 3-year-old daughter Eliza, said she was "inspired" by Murphy's gun control positions and his 15-hour filibuster on gun control in the U.S. Senate in June.

"I'm just inspired by his leadership, and I really liked his gun filibuster in June. ... And I wanted to meet him and thank him," she said with Eliza beside her.

Murphy said gun control has come up a number of times during his walk. In the eastern section of the state, he met gun owners concerned about gun restrictions while in Fairfield County the tendency was for people to take the opposite tack and talk about more controls on guns.

The junior senator said the walk is giving him a chance to connect with people who might never think of contacting him.

"It's been tremendous. So many people that would probably never call my office or contact me and that's the reason for doing it," Murphy said. "I don't think you can do this job by sitting in your office waiting for people to call you. You have to go out and get a real organic sense of what people want and who people are."

He was joined in his walk from Southport to Westport by state Rep. Cristin McCarthy Vahey, D-133rd District.

Murphy finishes Friday's portion of the walk with a public meeting at Tilley Pond Park, 40 West Ave, Darien. He will be joined there by U.S. Rep. Jim Himes, D-4th District. 

Himes will join Murphy for about 3 miles of the walk, from the Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk to Tilley Pond. 

On Thursday afternoon, Murphy made a stop in Stratford before holding a town hall-style meeting in Bridgeport with residents in the evening. How far has he walked? Over 100 miles so far. 

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