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

Markley’s conservatism focus of lieutenant governor debate

  • Politics
  • by Mark Pazniokas
  • September 27, 2018
  • View as "Clean Read" "Exit Clean Read"

mark pazniokas :: ctmirror.org

From left, Susan Bysiewicz, Monte Frank and Joe Markley.

The Democratic and unaffiliated candidates for lieutenant governor made Republican Joe Markley a common target Thursday over his social conservatism, including his solitary opposition in the state Senate to bills that address issues of pay equity and college-campus sexual assault.

On an afternoon when much of the nation was riveted by testimony in Washington about sexual assault allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, the trio of gubernatorial running mates taped a half-hour debate at WFSB, Channel 3. It aired at 7 p.m.

Democrats have tried to use Markley, 61, a state senator who is known at the Capitol for his genial nature and uncompromisingly conservative approach to most issues, as a catalyst to draw educated suburban women away from the GOP ticket led by Bob Stefanowski, who has labored to say as little as possible about anything but the state’s finances and economy.

Unlike Stefanowski, Markley did not hesitate to applaud Kavanaugh’s nomination on the basis of the judge’s philosophy and acumen, while stopping short of endorsing his confirmation. Markley said the assault allegations should be examined.

Numerous polls, including a recent Quinnipiac University poll of Connecticut voters, find a sharp gender gap, with women leaning towards Democrats. The polls are echoes of the 2016 president race, when defections by Republican women contributed to Donald J. Trump losing in GOP strongholds like Greenwich.

Markley offered no regrets for any of his past votes during his debate with Democrat Susan Bysiewicz and Monte Frank, a Democrat-turned-independent.

“I think that people know me well enough to know that I’ve always been a reasonable person who can support the positions he takes, and I’ve been a collegial person — strong in my beliefs, but not extreme in my behavior,” Markley said after the taping.

Markley said his focus throughout his career has been more on finances than social issues. He was an organizer of the 1991 income tax protest, the largest public demonstration ever mounted at the State Capitol, and a prominent critic of the Hartford-to-New Britain busway.

“I think the firmness with which I’ve pursued my goals of lower taxes and less spending are what people should focus on and not the image that somebody’s trying to create for me,” Markley said.

The first question at the debate was about a law that bars employers from asking applicants about their pay history, a question that sponsors of the legislation say perpetuates pay inequities that disadvantage women. Markley cast the sole vote against it in the Senate this year.

Markley said he and Stefanowski support equal pay for equal work, but the pay equity bill was an intrusion on the ability of employers to communicate with potential employees.

Markley is unique among the three candidates for lieutenant governor. Democrat Ned Lamont and independent Oz Griebel courted their running mates, while Stefanowski was neutral in the three-way primary won by Markley. 

Stefanowski says he is happy to run with Markley, though their paths rarely cross in public. At a debate Wednesday night, Stefanowski said he was open to changing election law so that major-party gubernatorial candidates could choose their running mates.

(Even in the case of Lamont and Bysiewicz, there was no guarantee they would end up as running mates, even though she was Lamont’s pick. They each had to win separate Democratic primaries. Only in the general election do voters cast a single vote for a ticket.)

Markley was criticized during the GOP primary and again Thursday during the debate for his vote in 2016 against the so-called “yes means yes” bill. It made affirmative consent the standard for college campus disciplinary proceeding involving allegations of sexual assault, though not for criminal prosecutions.

Markley said his opposition stemmed from concern about how the law would work, not the strong statement it made that all sexual relations on college campuses should be consensual.

“It’s a complicated issue, but I would invite people who have concerns about it to look at exactly what this bill involves in telling universities how to handle these things,” Markley said.

Frank and Bysiewicz disagreed on no specific issues Thursday. Instead, Frank tried to separate himself from Bysiewicz and Markley on the basis of backgrounds and approach to governing He and Griebel are outsiders who promise a non-partisan approach to government, while Markley and Bysiewicz are conventional politicians, even if both is running with a gubernatorial nominee from the world of business, not politics.

“Are they part of the solution, or are they part of the problem?” asked Frank, a lawyer who is the past president of the Connecticut Bar Association.

Bysiewicz, a former secretary of the state who was a gubernatorial candidate before joining forces with Lamont, and Frank both contrasted their support for abortion rights with the positions taken by Stefanowski and Markley. The Republicans support requiring minors to notify parents or get the consent of parents before an abortion. Connecticut is among the minority of states without such provisions, which are permitted under the legal groundwork established by Roe v. Wade.

Frank said Markley’s positions on abortion and affirmative consent places him in pursuit of “an extremely right-wing agenda.”

Markley said support of parental notification was a mainstream position, not a radical one.

Bysiewicz said parental consent sounds reasonable, but pointed out that minors seeking abortions often are from dysfunctional or even abusive families, where an unwanted pregnancy may be the result of rape by a relative

“In theory, parental consent might sound like something that would be good,” Bysiewicz said. “As a practical matter it is impossible for a lot of young women who are in this kind of situation.”

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

Mark Pazniokas is the Capitol Bureau Chief and a co-founder of CT Mirror. He is a frequent contributor to WNPR, a former state politics writer for The Hartford Courant and Journal Inquirer, and contributor for The New York Times.

SEE WHAT READERS SAID

RELATED STORIES
Feds will not be placing migrant children in Connecticut
by Mark Pazniokas

The closed Juvenile Training School had been under consideration as a shelter

Lamont closed the restaurants. Now he is their promoter.
by Mark Pazniokas

A year after Gov. Ned Lamont banned indoor dining due to COVID-19, the industry has welcomed him as its savior.

CT lawmakers call for funding to stop ‘mass killing’ of Black and brown children
by Kelan Lyons

Lawmakers identified a $5 billion proposal by the Biden administration, and marijuana and sports-betting legalization efforts, as potential funding.

Lamont faults CDC on J&J vaccine pause: ‘I would have handled it differently’
by Mark Pazniokas

Gov. Ned Lamont and other governors expressed dismay to the White House over pausing the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

GOP retains Monroe-Newtown seat in CT House
by Mark Pazniokas

Republican Tony Scott of Monroe won a special election Tuesday in the 112th House District of Monroe and Newtown.

Support Our Work

Show your love for great stories and outstanding journalism.

$
Select One
  • Monthly
  • Yearly
  • Once
Artpoint painter
CT ViewpointsCT Artpoints
Opinion Redistricting in Connecticut 2021: It is worth your attention
by Patricia Rossi

This is the year for redistricting in the United States. Maps drawn in 2021 will define which voters can vote for which candidates for the next ten years.  That means ensuring that the 2021 maps are fair and representative of their communities is critically important.

Opinion Lembo: Legislators should let constituents share the success of their health plan.
by Comptroller Kevin Lembo

The health care crisis in Connecticut continues. Bills under consideration in Connecticut expand subsidies, attempt to lower prescription drug costs and address long-standing health care inequities. There is room to incorporate the best of each if it helps make health care in our state more affordable, equitable and accessible. But Senate Bill 842 is the only bill that provides short and long-term help for small businesses, nonprofits and certain labor unions.

Opinion Will the Comptroller open the state-run healthcare plan’s books?
by Wyatt Bosworth

What choices do you have when you cannot defend a policy issue on its merits? One path is that chosen by former New Britain Democratic Town Committee chair Bill Shortell in his April 14 Viewpoints opinion piece, “Debunking the CBIA’s takedown of the public option healthcare bill.” Instead of defending any perceived merits associated with the proposed expansion of state-run healthcare in Connecticut, Shortell attacks the messenger. In this case, two organizations that have raised legitimate —and unanswered— questions about that proposal.

Opinion Climate action now to insure Connecticut’s future
by Commissioners Andrew Mais and Katie Dykes

Connecticut has had nine weather-related federal disaster declarations in the past 11 years, totaling more than $362 million in damages. For Storms Irene, Sandy, and the 2011 October Nor’easter, insurers paid out more than $1 billion to cover insured damages in Connecticut. The climate crisis is upon us. The science is clear. We must act now.

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