Is Scott Murphy vulnerable? The GOP doesn’t seem to think so

Democrats have won NY’s 20th congressional districts seat — once a vaunted Republican stronghold — three times straight.

Glens Falls Democrat Scott Murphy scored a huge upset this spring over Republican Jim Tedisco.

The Hill newspaper reported over the weekend that Murphy would likely be targeted by the GOP for his vote in favor of landmark climate change legislation.

But it turns out he’s not on the Republican hit-list. Politico is reporting that the GOP plans to target “vulnerable” Dems — a group that doesn’t appear to include Murphy.

“There’s a reason why over 40 Democrats in swing districts voted against this,” said NRCC spokesman Ken Spain. “They realized that voting for [Speaker Nancy] Pelosi’s bill wasn’t worth the price of millions of dollars in TV ads that would be required to put up what will ultimately be a futile defense of this vote. The question is: What were the others thinking?”

But Politico’s list doesn’t include any lawmakers from New York. With Rep. John McHugh’s seat likely to be up for grabs soon — he was appointed to serve as Army Secretary — this is hardly the time for the GOP to play nervous in the Empire State.

But there are signs that Republicans (or independent conservatives?) are at least keeping half an eye on Murphy.

At this week’s constituent gathering in Ticonderoga, a person who appeared to be a political “tracker” or oppo-researcher video-recorded most of Murphy’s talk.

When approached by Murphy’s staff, he refused to identify himself and a short scuffle ensued. Rep. Murphy ended it by telling his people to stand down.

November 2010 will be here soon enough. If a serious challenge is in the offing, we should see more evidence soon.