Posted inPolitics

Senate GOP blocks confirmation of McDonald as chief justice

Senate Republicans voted as a bloc Tuesday to deny the confirmation of Andrew J. McDonald as chief justice of Connecticut Supreme Court, stopping the ascent of a political and legal trailblazer for the gay community, a factor that opponents insisted was irrelevant and supporters said could not be ignored. Sen. Joan Hartley of Waterbury was the lone Democrat to vote against McDonald’s confirmation, which failed 19 to 16.

Posted inPolitics

GOP tells Malloy it will block confirmation of McDonald

Senate Republican leader Len Fasano informed Gov. Dannel P. Malloy on Monday that all 18 GOP senators intend to vote Tuesday against the confirmation of his friend and former legal adviser, Andrew J. McDonald, as chief justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court. With the recusal of one Democratic senator in the evenly divided Senate, the GOP has a majority of 18-17 on the question of whether McDonald would be confirmed as the first openly gay chief justice of the highest court in any state.