Free Daily Headlines :

  • COVID-19
  • Vaccine Info
  • Money
  • Politics
  • Education
  • Health
  • Justice
  • More
    • Environment
    • Economic Development
    • Gaming
    • Investigations
    • Social Services
    • TRANSPORTATION
  • Opinion
    • CT Viewpoints
    • CT Artpoints
DONATE
Reflecting Connecticut’s Reality.
    COVID-19
    Vaccine Info
    Money
    Politics
    Education
    Health
    Justice
    More
    Environment
    Economic Development
    Gaming
    Investigations
    Social Services
    TRANSPORTATION
    Opinion
    CT Viewpoints
    CT Artpoints

LET�S GET SOCIAL

Show your love for great stories and out standing journalism

Murphy-McMahon race could shift Senate’s balance of power

  • by Ana Radelat
  • September 21, 2012
  • View as "Clean Read" "Exit Clean Read"

Washington — The stakes in the race between Rep. Chris Murphy, D-5th District, and Republican rival Linda McMahon are soaring as it becomes clearer the contest could tip the balance of power in the U.S. Senate.

“It could go either way,” said Thomas Mann, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington.

Mann also said Democrats can’t afford to lose a Senate seat in a state like Connecticut that leans Democratic.

“If you are in a fight like this, you don’t give up one of your natural seats,” he said.

Not too long ago, the Connecticut race was a sleeper, overshadowed by a much higher-profile contest in Massachusetts between Democrat Elizabeth Warren and Republican Sen. Scott Brown.

But the tightening of the Murphy-McMahon race has propelled it into the national spotlight in a year where few are willing to predict whether Democrats can keep control of the Senate.

Recent polls show Murphy running even with McMahon, even as other Democratic Senate candidates in toss-up races gained strength this week, giving their party hope.

murphy

Democratic Senate candidate Chris Murphy

 

“Democrats have had a couple of lucky breaks,” said Jessica Taylor, senior analyst at the Rothenberg Political Report.

Those breaks include devastating gaffes by Todd Akin, a Republican Senate candidate in Missouri who said victims of “legitimate rape” can’t conceive; and by Mitt Romney, the GOP’s standard bearer, who told donors, as revealed in a video taken in May, that he did not care about the 47 percent of Americans who don’t pay income tax.

But the electoral map is still volatile, and Connecticut’s Senate race, once thought almost a sure bet for a Democratic candidate, has added to that volatility, Taylor said.

Democrats have to defend 22 seats in the Senate besides the one of retiring Connecticut Sen. Joseph Lieberman. Republicans have just 10 seats up for re-election.

Democrats now hold 51 seats in the Senate, Republicans hold 47, and there are two independent senators, including Lieberman, who caucuses with the Democrats.

That means the Republicans can win back the Senate by taking just three seats from Democrats if Romney wins the White House and his vice president, Rep. Paul Ryan, R- Wis., is in position to cast a tie-breaking vote.

If President Obama wins re-election, the GOP would need to win four additional seats.

And that’s doable, Taylor said.

The Rothenberg Political Report has identified five Senate races as toss-ups: in Virginia, Massachusetts, North Dakota, Nevada and Montana.

While Rothenberg still has Connecticut’s race as “leaning Democratic,” Taylor said that rating could change.

 

linda

GOP Senate hopeful Linda McMahon

Other analysts, including those at the Cook Political Report and Real Clear Politics, already have the Murphy-McMahon contest in their toss-up column.

 

“Democrats and many political observers have underestimated McMahon and her ability to run a different race than she did in 2010,” a Cook Political Report analysis said.

“It seems that Democrats have believed that they could simply run the same campaign that they ran two years ago and achieve the same result. But, while McMahon’s tenacity has surprised them, they are only now coming to the conclusion that their nominee, U.S. Rep. Chris Murphy, isn’t the same kind of candidate that then-Attorney General Richard Blumenthal was.”

The race is such that Blumenthal, who beat McMahon in 2010, declined to say who he thought would win the Murphy-McMahon race.

“I don’t make predictions,” Blumenthal said.

McMahon’s ability to pour millions of dollars of her own money into her campaign — allowing her to blanket the airwaves with ads and hire the best political strategists — has helped her keep Murphy at bay, Taylor said.

One political consultant McMahon hired is Chris LaCivita, who worked for Missouri Senate candidate Akin.

LaCivita is a strategist who heavily uses and strongly defends the use of “opposition research,” or digging up dirt on a political opponent. He was the chief strategist for the “Swiftboat Veterans For Truth,” who attacked Sen. John Kerry’s record in Vietnam when the Massachusetts Democrat ran for the White House.

“He’s very familiar with winning on unfamiliar turf,” Taylor said.

To try to combat McMahon’s firepower, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee stepped into Murphy’s race last week. It has spent $640,000 on advertising and loaned staff to Murphy’s campaign.

The DSCC spent more than $2 million in 2010 to help Blumenthal.

Taylor said it’s likely the DSCC is helping Murphy with opposition research, polling and strategic advice.

Spokesman Matt Canter declined to discuss what kind of help the DSCC is offering Murphy.

“He’ll have all the resources he needs,” Canter said.

That outside help may be effective, said Mann. “It now looks like [the Murphy race] is coming around.”

One reason is the “decline of the Romney campaign,” which is dragging down many GOP candidates, Mann said.

He also said McMahon’s alignment with conservatives in her party, instead of running as a “typical Connecticut Republican moderate” may be hurting her as polls show voters are becoming turned off by political extremism.

 

Sign up for CT Mirror's free daily news summary.

Free to Read. Not Free to Produce.

The Connecticut Mirror is a nonprofit newsroom. 90% of our revenue comes from people like you. If you value our reporting please consider making a donation. You'll enjoy reading CT Mirror even more knowing you helped make it happen.

YES, I'LL DONATE TODAY

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ana Radelat

SEE WHAT READERS SAID

RELATED STORIES
Vaccinations in nursing homes top 64,000; COVID cases are dropping rapidly among residents
by Dave Altimari

There were 238 COVID infections reported in nursing homes last week, down from 483 a few weeks ago.

Advocates call on state to improve response to vulnerable students
by Adria Watson

State child advocate Sarah Eagan and attorney Martha Stone want the state to do more for these students during COVID.

CT budget leaders want to use massive savings to expand COVID-19 relief
by Keith M. Phaneuf

Gov. Ned Lamont’s administration expects to spend about $630 million less than legislators authorized.

The game is changing. Chris Murphy says he’s ready to play.
by Mark Pazniokas

The question for Sen. Chris Murphy no longer is where might he go next, but what can he do now.

Connecticut’s $100 million college shell game
by Stephen Adair

The plan to consolidate the 12 community colleges in Connecticut into one college with 12 campuses is called “Students First,” which is ironic because it does not fund students first.  It funds a new administration in a new, statewide bureaucracy. The Board of Regents (BOR) and the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities (CSCU) system office […]

Support Our Work

Show your love for great stories and outstanding journalism.

$
Select One
  • Monthly
  • Yearly
  • Once
Artpoint painter
CT ViewpointsCT Artpoints
Opinion Connecticut’s $100 million college shell game
by Stephen Adair

The plan to consolidate the 12 community colleges in Connecticut into one college with 12 campuses is called “Students First,” which is ironic because it does not fund students first.  It funds a new administration in a new, statewide bureaucracy. The Board of Regents (BOR) and the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities (CSCU) system office […]

Opinion Inconsistent television captioning is a barrier to equal access
by Jeffrey Bravin and Barbara Cassin

Our world long ago entered the age of the 24-hour news cycle, and a full understanding of the “who, what, when, where and why” of the news is critical for deaf, deafblind and hard of hearing citizens. Yet, Connecticut’s inconsistent quality of television captioning locks our community out of the complete sense of what is happening.

Opinion A just stimulus package is a start toward true racial inclusion
by Carlton L Highsmith

For centuries Blacks have been denied full participation in the American Dream. But for the sake of our collective progress, as we recover from the crippling economic effects of COVID-19, our country has a mandate to acknowledge its history of systematic institutionalized exclusionary practices and not repeat them.

Opinion Hamden taxpayers are left in the dark
by Lauren Garrett

“A budget is a moral document.” This phrase is often heard during budget season from both sides of the aisle advocating for their personal values. The municipal operating budget is the cost of running a town which includes paying for employees, schools, and other services. Asking residents to pay property taxes requires a public trust.

Artwork Grand guidance
by Anne:Gogh

In a world of systemic oppression aimed towards those of darker skintones – representation matters. We are more than our equity elusive environments, more than numbers in a prison and much more than victims of societal dispositions. This piece depicts a melanated young man draped in a cape ascending high above multiple forms of oppression. […]

Artwork Shea
by Anthony Valentine

Shea is a story about race and social inequalities that plague America. It is a narrative that prompts the question, “Do you know what it’s like to wake up in new skin?”

Artwork The Declaration of Human Rights
by Andres Chaparro

Through my artwork I strive to create an example of ideas that reflect my desire to raise social consciousness, and cultural awareness. Jazz music is the catalyst to all my work, and plays a major influence in each piece of work.”

Artwork ‘A thing of beauty. Destroy it forever’
by Richard DiCarlo | Derby

During times like these it’s often fun to revisit something familiar and approach things with a different slant. I have been taking some Pop culture and Art masterpieces and applying the vintage 1960’s and 70’s classic figures (Fisher Price, little people) to the make an amusing pieces. Here is my homage to Fisher -Price, Yellow […]

Twitter Feed
A Twitter List by CTMirror

Engage

  • Reflections Tickets & Sponsorships
  • Events
  • Donate
  • Newsletter Sign-Up
  • Submit to Viewpoints
  • Submit to ArtPoints
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Commenting Guidelines
  • Legal Notices
  • Contact Us

About

  • About CT Mirror
  • Announcements
  • Board
  • Staff
  • Sponsors and Funders
  • Donors
  • Friends of CT Mirror
  • History
  • Financial
  • Policies
  • Strategic Plan

Opportunity

  • Advertising and Sponsorship
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Use of Photography
  • Work for Us

Go Deeper

  • Steady Habits Podcast
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Five Things

The Connecticut News Project, Inc. 1049 Asylum Avenue, Hartford, CT 06105. Phone: 860-218-6380

© Copyright 2021, The Connecticut News Project. All Rights Reserved. Website by Web Publisher PRO