A law professor from St. John’s University has officially launched his campaign to challenge scandal-plagued Long Island Rep. George Santos for the House seat he won in a special election last year.
Will Murphy, a Democrat, announced Sunday that he filed with the Federal Elections Commission to challenge Santos in Nassau County’s 3rd Congressional District next year.
“It is time for the disgraceful and embarrassing reality show in D.C. to end,” Murphy, 39, said in a statement. “Nobody there is fighting for the rights and values of real people.
“We deserve better than career politicians without any skin in the game who are driven by ambition, ego, self-interest, or worse.”
Murphy, of Farmingdale, has been teaching legal studies at the Queens school since 2012. He told The Post last month that he was fed up with Santos, a first-term Republican, doing “a disservice” to his Long Island constituents.
Santos, 34, admitted that he lied about his education, employment and family history before he was elected into office. The truth-challenged pol is now considered by pariah by other Republicans in the Empire State, many of whom have asked that he step down.
Murphy, a married father, describes himself as a moderate Democrat committed to helping fellow Long Islanders — and is not afraid to question his own party’s leadership.
“We will put the service back into public service and give people the actual choice they deserve on the ballot,” he said in his statement Sunday.
He said he filed for his statement of candidacy with the FEC on Thursday to get the 2024 ballot.
The announcement comes less than a week after Santos said he would seek a second term in a bizarre video announcement from Washington, D.C. — rather than his Nassau County home district.
The controversial pol declared his re-election bid well ahead of the congressional election in the hopes that he can raise as much as $750,000 by getting an early start, one source told The Post.
A rep for Santos did not immediately respond to a request for comment Sunday.
