It would appear that 200,000 permit holders and a half a million gun owners could and should make a dent in this trend. Get out and vote and lets get a balance back into state Government! Obviously the incumbents have not brought our state to a very desirable place. Come on Connecticut lets make a difference this year, lets take Connecticut back! - David State GOP Holds Out Hope For Seats Entire Delegation Has Been Democrats Since 2008 By CHRISTOPHER KEATING ckeating@courant HARTFORD — Ever since longtime Republican U.S. Rep. Chris Shays lost in November 2008, the entire Connecticut delegation to Washington, D.C., has consisted of Democrats. The five-member delegation to the U.S. House of Representatives has repeatedly won victories in what has become a reliably blue state. So Democrats believe that trend will continue in the Nov. 4 election. But Republicans are not giving up, since they once held three of the five U.S. House seats as recently as 2006 when Shays, Rob Simmons and Nancy Johnson were in power. Former state Republican Chairman Chris Healy says the national mood is currently trending toward Republicans because the sixth year for a two-term president is often a down year for the party in power. Republicans like Simmons and Johnson, for example, were swept out of office in the mid-term election in 2006 in President George W. Bush’s sixth year, and Democrats regained control of the U.S. Senate in 1986 in President Ronald Reagan’s sixth year. “You can get into a big year, and you never know what can happen,’’ Healy said. “That helps everybody who is running — at least on our side. These off-year elections are mood elections. If the [Democratic] incumbents feel like they’ve got it in hand, a lot of things can happen.’’ At the same time, Healy is realistic in that the Democrats have more than 300,000 more registered voters in Connecticut than Republicans and incumbents have higher name recognition. “It takes a real effort to win a seat against an incumbent in Congress,’’ Healy said. “It’s very hard to do. Not impossible, but they are the exception and not the rule.’’ Former state Democratic Chairman John Droney predicted the Democrats will sweep all five House seats because he believes first-term incumbent Democrat Elizabeth Esty is pulling away from Republican Mark Greenberg in the 5th District that stretches from Simsbury to Danbury to Salisbury. The 5th District has been seen by many political observers as the most competitive Congressional race in the state this year as Greenberg, a real estate developer, tries for his third time to win the seat. The difference, Droney said, is that Esty and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee have been broadcasting commercials with old tapes of Greenberg’s statements on Social Security that have been played repeatedly on television. The Hartford Courant’s “Claim Check’’ column declared that Esty’s commercial was “false’’ and “created only through a creative and misleading editing of Greenberg’s words.’’ But Droney said the constant playing of the commercials has already seeped into voters’ minds. “People have seen the ad 15 times, and some people might have missed the story in The Courant,’’ Droney said. “People have a much shorter attention span. But they react to negative campaigning. The TV medium is the medium, and that’s what controls.” Greenberg, a conservative Republican, surprised many observers when he announced at a debate that he supports universal background checks for the purchase of guns, which plunged his rating by the National Rifle Association from A to F. In a recent debate, both candidates said they were moderates as Esty described herself as “a practical problem-solver,’’ and Greenberg said he was “an independent Republican’’ who would not be beholden to his caucus. At the same time, each candidate has attempted to portray the other as an extremist in their party. Himes Vs. Debicella In the 4th District in Fairfield County, incumbent Democrat Jim Himes of Greenwich is battling Republican Dan Debicella of Shelton in a rematch of their tight 2010 race that ended with Himes winning by 53 percent to 47 percent. Debicella won 10 of the district’s 17 communities four years ago, but Himes pulled ahead with big wins in the cities of Bridgeport and Stamford. A former Goldman Sachs financial executive, Himes has become well-known in the district since defeating Shays in 2008. “People down there on both sides of the aisle like him,’’ said Droney, a partner in a Hartford law firm. “He’s made some money. He’s one of their own. He may be a liberal Democrat, but they see him as a country club Republican.’’ Healy, though, says the races by Greenberg and Debicella are “our two best chances in a long time’’ because both Republicans are veteran campaigners who have run for Congress in the past. The two districts cover the areas where Republicans traditionally have their strongest support, Fairfield and Litchfield counties. “With Dan Malloy at the top of the ticket, it’s definitely an uphill fight [for Democrats] in that district,’’ Healy said of the 5th. “Elizabeth Esty is only in her first term. That’s why the 5th is really competitive.’’ Concerning voters in Fairfield County, Healy asked, “Will they view Jim Himes as a convenient Republican when he’s campaigning but a Democrat when he’s in Washington? Can Debicella make that argument? I think he can. I think Tom Foley could do well in the 4th and the 5th, so that will help those candidates.’’ Courtney Vs. Hopkins-Cavanagh In the 2nd Congressional District that runs from Stonington to Madison to Enfield, Democrat Joe Courtney is seeking his fifth term after defeating Simmons in 2006 by 83 votes. Since then, Courtney has helped secure two new Virginia-class submarines each year for the next five years at the Electric Boat shipyard in Groton in a $17.6 billion contract for the region’s largest manufacturer. Along with two nearby casinos, Electric Boat helps drive the economy in southeastern Connecticut. Courtney also made his mark in 2012 by helping to block the potential doubling of interest rates on federal loans for college students from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent, and he stood behind President Barack Obama in the Oval Office as he signed a bill in August 2013 that called for lower rates. Republican Lori Hopkins-Cavanagh is a real estate broker who opposes the federal health care law known as Obamacare and the Common Core education standards that have been adopted by many states. A New London native, she graduated from the University of Connecticut and created an advertising and public relations firm at the age of 25. Today, she runs her own real estate brokerage firm. A member of the National Rifle Association, Hopkins-Cavanagh is a strong supporter of gun rights. She also supports term limits for Congress and a Constitutional amendment to balance the federal budget. The least competitive races involve U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the longest-serving member of the delegation with12 consecutive victories since 1990, and U.S. Rep. John B. Larson, who has served an overwhelmingly Democratic district since first winning in 1998. DeLauro is facing Republican James E. Brown, a longtime high school mathematics teacher who was raised in Newtown and now lives in Stratford. DeLauro won by 75 percent to 25 percent over Republican Wayne Winsley in her last race in 2012, and she has won with at least 60 percent of the vote every two years since winning a tight battle in her first race in 1990 against conservative Republican Tom Scott. Larson is facing Republican Matthew Corey, a former Hartford taxi driver and U.S. Navy veteran who served in Beirut in 1983. A lifelong Manchester resident, Corey operates a window-cleaning company for office towers and also owns McKinnon’s Irish Pub in Hartford. With long winning streaks for DeLauro and Larson in districts that have been carved out through redistricting for Democrats, Droney sees no chance that they will “ever’’ lose. “I don’t think they can lose unless they do something very bad,’’ Droney said. “Unless Rosa robs a bank or John Larson moves out of the district, they can’t be beat.’’
Posted on: Fri, 31 Oct 2014 13:49:54 +0000
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