From 1965 to 1969 she was the elected clerk of the Village of Crestwood, and later the elected clerk for Worth Township. She went on to be the elected Supervisor for Worth Township.[1]In1986, Murphy ran in the election to be a member of the Cook County Board of Commissioners from suburban Cook County. While successful in winning the primary to be one of the Democratic Party's nominees, she failed to win election in the general election.[2]
In1994, when the Cook County Board of Commissioners switched to single-member districts, she ran unsuccessfully to represent its 6th district, losing to Republican Bud Fleming.[3][4][5][6]
In 2002 she won election to represent the 6th district of the Cook County Board of Commissioners. She was reelected in 2006, 2010, and 2014.
Murphy was Chairperson of the Labor Committee and of the Finance-Labor Committee. She was Vice-Chairperson of the Finance-Real Estate Committee and the Zoning and Building Committee. Additionally, Murphy served on 13 committees: Administration, Business and Economic Development, Education, Litigation, Tax Delinquency, Stroger and Cermak Hospitals, Oak Forest Hospital, Provident Hospital, Legislation and Intergovernmental Relations, Health and Hospitals, Finance, Zoning and Buildings, and Roads and Bridges. Murphy led a fight against supervisors taking mandated, unpaid furlough leave.[7]
