Overview
Michael Gerard Fitzpatrick (June 28, 1963 – January 6, 2020) was an American attorney and politician who served as a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives, representing from 2005 to 2007 and 2011 to 2017. He was first elected to Congress in 2004 and represented the district from 2005 to 2007, but he was defeated by Democrat Patrick Murphy in 2006.
He declined to run for his old seat in 2008 but ran again in 2010, and won a rematch with Murphy. He was re-elected in 2012 and 2014. A supporter of term limits, he did not seek re-election in 2016 and was replaced by his brother Brian. He was considered a moderate Republican, and consistently ranked among the most bipartisan members of Congress.
Early life, education and law career
Fitzpatrick was born in Philadelphia and raised in Bucks County. He graduated from Bishop Egan High School, now Conwell-Egan Catholic High School, in Fairless Hills. He moved to Florida to attend St. Thomas University with an academic scholarship where he earned his bachelor's degree in 1985 from the school's honors program.
He earned his J.D. degree from the Dickinson School of Law at Penn State University. He was named business manager of the Dickinson Journal of International Law. After graduating law school in 1988, Fitzpatrick was admitted to the practice of law in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
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