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Murphy will run for Senate again

SPRINGFIELD — Joining the growing list of state lawmakers declaring their 2012 election intentions early in the campaign season, Sen. Matt Murphy said Monday that he plans to run for re-election to the Illinois Senate.

The Palatine Republican has become a budget point person for Senate Republicans in Springfield. His bid for re-election comes after a failed race for lieutenant governor two years ago.

Murphy said he’d prefer to stick to state issues for now, especially given the Illinois budget crisis.

“There’s certainly a lot of unfinished business,” he said.

Shortly after Democratic lawmakers voted to raise income taxes earlier this year, Murphy attempted to push legislation to roll them back. And he was one of the Senate Republican budget negotiators who declined to support this year’s state budget, even as House Republicans largely climbed on board.

Murphy first joined the Senate in 2007.

The district he plans to run in includes parts of Arlington Heights, Palatine, Mount Prospect and Des Plaines.