WASHINGTON–As they prepare to exercise their new-found legislative power, Republicans in Washington have made health reform their No. 1 target. But while efforts to defund or derail the overhaul law will no doubt be center stage come January, a host of other health care policies could be also be tweaked or significantly revamped as the […]

Linda McMahon’s U.S. Senate campaign is looking more and more like a one-woman economic stimulus plan, albeit one that didn’t produce a new job for the candidate herself. A new Washington Post analysis found that McMahon’s $47 million Senate spending blitz translated into $97 per vote won on Election Day. That put her at No. […]

With the two parties still sorting through the 2010 election detritus, Sen. Joseph Lieberman has gone to another place with a lot of political turmoil: Iraq. Connecticut’s soon-to-be senior U.S. senator is traveling abroad this week with Republicans John McCain and Lindsey Graham, of Arizona and South Carolina respectively. Lieberman’s office was tightlipped about the […]

One burning question (among many) in Washington right now is what Democrats think about Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s bid to keep her leadership job in the next Congress, despite seeing her party lose 60-plus seats in the House. It’s something a lot of lawmakers would rather not chat about, at least in public. Among the Connecticut […]

WASHINGTON–When the political music stops at the House Democratic Caucus post-election bash, will Rep. John Larson still have a chair at the leadership table? Larson’s staff says yes, and the 1st District Democrat has been holed up calling his House colleagues to shore up support. But others say Larson’s ability to keep his job as […]

WASHINGTON-Although his U.S. Senate bid is wrapped up and he won’t face re-election for six years, Democrat Richard Blumenthal may not be taking a break from one element of the campaign–fundraising–anytime soon. Recent campaign filings show that Blumenthal pumped another $277,000 of his own money into his  Senate campaign in the final two weeks of the […]

WASHINGTON–For Connecticut’s Democratic congressional delegation, the election celebrations are over, and a stark new reality is beginning to set in. Yes, the state’s five Democratic U.S. House members all dodged the Republican wave that swept the rest of the country. But now they have to adjust to a dramatically reconfigured political landscape, one in which […]

After staying on the sidelines of Connecticut’s hotly-contested U.S. Senate, Sen. Joseph Lieberman offered his opinion on the results Wednesday morning. In a press release, Lieberman, a Democrat-turned-Independent who is up for re-election in 2012 himself, congratulated Blumenthal and welcomed him to the congressional delegation. “I look forward to working closely with Dick and the […]

Richard Blumenthal withstood a Republican wave, misstatements over his Vietnam-era service and the record $50 million budget of his self-financed opponent, Republican Linda McMahon, to keep Christopher J. Dodd’s U.S. Senate seat in Democratic hands tonight. “Thank you for putting your trust, your confidence and your support in me. I am grateful, as is my […]

STORRS–Student protesters disrupted a Linda McMahon campaign rally on Monday, forcing the Republican U.S. Senate candidate to move and then cut short a mid-morning event at the University of Connecticut. As McMahon greeted the students, Brenna Regan, a 20-year-old junior, tried to present the former World Wrestling Entertainment CEO with a “lifetime achievement award for […]

Republican Linda McMahon and Democrat Richard Blumenthal closed out their long, expensive, and still-volatile U.S. Senate contest in competing down-to-the-wire pitches across the state on Monday. Linda McMahon signs a campaign poster for a supporter (Deirdre Shesgreen) McMahon, the former CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment and political newcomer, devoted her final push to Connecticut’s second congressional district, […]

Republican Linda McMahon called herself the “underdog” on Sunday, even as she disputed recent polls showing her behind Democrat Richard Blumenthal and touted a sophisticated field operation assembled by her $42 million-plus U.S. Senate campaign. Linda McMahon talks with supporter Jayme Stevenson in Darien (Deirdre Shesgreen) “I like being the underdog,” McMahon told a crowd […]

Republican Linda McMahon successfully drew a pack of reporters to World Wrestling Entertainment’s “Fan Appreciation Day” Saturday, telling the media she would make an appearance at the controversial event. But while a half-dozen wrestling matches unfolded on stage at Hartford’s XL Center–all as noisy, brutal and messy as Connecticut’s U.S. Senate contest– McMahon herself never […]

The last poll has Rep. Joe Courtney, D-3rd District, sitting on a fat lead in his re-election contest against Janet Peckinpaugh. That’s apparently put him in a generous mood. Last week, Courtney dipped into his own campaign coffers to help some of his more politically endangered colleagues, new campaign reports show. Courtney gave $2,000 Rep. […]

WASHINGTON–Health care reform wasn’t a front-burner issue in the U.S. Senate contest, until Connecticut’s top insurance regulator approved a double-digit premium hike. Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, the Democratic Senate nominee, blasted the decision, saying Commissioner Thomas Sullivan granted the insurers’ requested increases after a flawed, incomplete review. Just as quickly, Blumenthal’s Republican opponent, Linda McMahon, […]