His campaign says it has more than $1 million on hand. No word on where that cash came from — whether the wealthy investment advisor wrote a few checks on his own behalf or raised it all from contributors.
That’s what Republican activist Art McNally wanted to know. McMahon declined an invitation from the group of grassroots activists who hosted a candidate forum in Woodbury Tuesday night, citing previous commitments.
Simmons, a Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, has more than $1.4 million on hand, according to a statement from his campaign manager Jim Barnett.
“Our FEC report will show us with over $1.4 million cash on hand raised from nearly 14,000 donors, including nearly $550,000 raised this quarter – a very respectable sum considering the Senate campaign’s lower profile given Dodd’s departure, and the intense competition for money by so many Republican candidates for governor and Congress,” Barnett wrote in an email to reporters.
“We have made significant investments this quarter as we approach the GOP convention — mail to prospective delegates, survey research and our field program. Most importantly, our cash on hand allows us to have a significant media presence approaching primary day, at which point McMahon will finally have to contend with a competing message on television, inevitably leading to a much tighter race.”
The Simmons campaign will need every penny as it goes up against the enormously wealthy Linda McMahon, who is largely self-funding her Senate campaign. Barnett said McMahon, who has been running TV commercials for months, has already spent $14 million.
The Simmons campaign has not gone on TV yet. Instead, it has invested its cash in mailings to Republican delegates, polls and establishing field operations.
McMahon now leads in the latest Q poll, but Barnett said the contest is far from over.
“The bottom line is this remains an extremely fluid race,” Barnett said. “Near daily revelations about McMahon’s record at WWE continue to dog her campaign and it is likely that there are more shoes to drop. The more voters learn about McMahon, the more her negatives rise. Once we amplify our message with television advertising, expect a brand new ball game.”
Simmons fully expects to win the GOP nomination at next month’s convention, setting the stage for an August primary. His campaign clearly hopes the steady drip of news stories about McMahon’s tenure as CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment turns into a torrent that ultimately sweeps away her candidacy.
“This past week alone produced no fewer than four groundbreaking and deeply troubling stories that threaten McMahon’s long-term viability – 1. lying on her BOE application; 2. spending millions on lobbyists, undercutting her “outsider” claims; 3. employing adult film stars and calling them “role models”; and, finally, the New London Day’s reporting on McMahon’s attempts to interfere in the federal criminal probe of the WWE’s steroid dealer,” Barnett wrote.
“Any one of these could be enough to severely undercut her candidacy. All of them together, on top of other damaging reports over the past several months, make her a fairly easy general election target for the Democrats. In the short term, this reality will be masked as she continues to have the airwaves to herself. But support earned in a vacuum is fragile because it is built on one-sided information. Once advertising dollars are spent taking our case to the voters it will be a new ballgame altogether.”
That’s the gist of this A1 story in the New York Times.
Republican congressional candidate Mark Greenberg is under fire for conducting a “push poll” that implies his GOP opponent, Sam Caligiuri, defended Philip Giordano, who is currently serving a 37-year prison term for sexually abusing two young girls while he was mayor of Waterbury.
“This is a really disgusting tactic by a candidate who’s desperate because he is isn’t going anywhere in this race,” said Tiffany Romero Grossman, spokeswoman for the Caligiuri campaign. “It really smacks as politics as usual which is really ironic coming from the guy who claims to be the political outsider in this race.”
The telephone poll of registered Republicans in the 5th Congressional District was conducted by Promark Research Corp. of Texas. The Greenberg campaign did not release the text of the poll but, according to several sources, respondents are asked if knowing that Caligiuri “defended” Giordano would make them “more or less likely” to vote for him. Caligiuri toom over as Waterbury’s acting mayor after Giordano’s arrest.
Marc Greenberg, who is managing Greenberg’s campaign, said the poll is part of the candidate’s “fact-gathering” process.
“Sam will discus on a regular basis how he became mayor of Waterbury,” Katz said. “How come when we mention it in a poll it becomes a story? This is simply our way of gathering information.”
But why mention Giordano, one of Connecticut’s most notorious criminals, in the context of a highly charged political campaign? Giordano isn’t on any ballot this fall; he’s in a federal prison in Marion, Ill.”
“The purpose was for us to gather information,” Katz said, who noted the poll also presented a series of statements about the record of Justin Bernier, another GOP candidate running in the 5th District. “We have candidates who are out there, who have a history. We ask questions about the history.”
“We paint a picture of our candidate, we paint a picture of other candidates,” Katz said.
Indeed, the pollsters also sketched a portrait of Greenberg, a wealthy political newcomer from Litchfield who has said he will sink $1 million into his campaign.
According to Katz, they described Greenberg as a 56-year-old successful businessman and has a foundation that saves animals. “It paints a picture,” Katz said. “This is the candidate, that’s his story.”
Katz went on to say that such facts are relevant because Greenberg was never held elective office and doesn’t have a voting record.
Push polls — which aim to measure public opinion and alter a respondent’s views by selectively a set of facts or allegations — are highly controversial. In New Hampshire, such polls are highly regulated.
Sam Caligiuri and Mark Greenberg have both gained the National Republican Congressional Committee’s coveted “On the Radar” status. A third GOP candidate in the race, Justin Bernier, has already achieved that goal.
The “On the Radar” designation identifies promising Republican candidates. It is the first tier of the party’s Young Guns program.
To gain admission to the program, candidates must meet certain fundraising benchmarks as well as other requirements, such as establishing a communication plan, tapping into social media and hiring campaign staff.
“We want to make sure their putting together a winning plan,” NRCC Spokesman Tory Mazzola said. The party does not release the fundraising benchmarks it sets for the candidates.
Bernier, Caligiuri and Greenberg each hope to knock off Democratic incumbent Chris Murphy.
Bernier and Caligiuri have yet to release their first quarter of 2010 fundraising numbers. Greenberg, who is partly self-funding his campaign, said he raised $77,335 during the first quarter of 2010 and lent the campaign an additional $271,500.
The NRCC is not officially endorsing any of the candidates. Having three contenders with “On the Radar” status isn’t unheard of, Mazzola said. He cited New York and Pennsylvania as other places where multiple candidates are running.
“It’s not uncommon for us to have more than one candidate involved in the program,” he said. “In this case, it demonstrates a growning frustration with Chris Murphy.”
The AG and Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate has tapped Mindy Myers, currently chief of staff for Rhode Island Senator Sheldon Whitehouse.
Myers is seen as a young superstar in Democratic campaign circles: At the age of 32, she oversaw Barack Obama’s New Hampshire campaign operation in the 2008 general election. New Hampshire was a battleground state and Myers helped deliver it for the Democrats.
She also managed Whitehouse’s 2006 Senate race. Whitehouse was Rhode Island’s attorney general when he defeated incumbent Lincoln Chafee, a moderate Republican.
“Mindy knows what it takes to win, and we’re pleased to have her leading our campaign team,” Michael Cacace, Blumenthal’s campaign chairman, said in a statement announcing Myers’ appointment.
After the election, Myers plans to return to her job in Whjitehouse’s office.
Each person attending tonight’s Jefferson-Jackson-Bailey dinner left with a goodie bag.
They were both outgoing Irish-American politicians from big families with powerful fathers. They served together in the U.S. for nearly three decades and when last year, when a gravelly ill Ted Kennedy could no longer lead the healthcare battle, he turned to his friend Chris Dodd.
After months of relying on campaign surrogates to slam chief rival Linda McMahon, Republican U.S. Senate candidate Rob Simmons went on the offensive Monday, publicly questioning the character of the former World Wrestling Entertainment CEO who is also seeking the GOP nomination.
Simmons stood on the north steps of the state Capitol before a half-dozen reporters and catalogued what he called McMahon’s lack of credibility and disrespect for the law. He blasted her for painting herself as a political outsider when her company has spent $1 million on Washington lobbyists. He said her misleading answers to a questionnaire in connection with her appointment to the state Board of Education constitute lies.
And most significantly, Simmons cited McMahon’s role in a federal investigation into steroid use by professional wrestlers. According to a 1989 memo obtained by both The Day of New London and POLITICO, McMahon tipped off a Pennsylvania doctor about the impending investigation.
“This is the stuff of a mystery novel and a Hollywood thriller,” Simmons said. “It does not add credibility to a U.S. Senate campaign. These are the actions of someone who does not respect the law and it leaves one to ask the question: how can you write the laws if you don’t feel bound by them?”
McMahon was never charged with any crime in connection with the incident, but Simmons said he believes she ought to offer the voters of Connecticut a full accounting of her actions. “Mrs. McMahon is building her Senate candidacy entirely on her business experience at the WWE,” he said. “She needs to be held accountable for that very troubling record.”
Two members of McMahon’s campaign staff stood nearby and when Simmons’ was finished speaking, one of them responded to his critique. Spokesman Ed Patru borrowed a favorite phrase of the Clintons, saying Simmons’ attack smacked of “the politics of personal destruction.” He also said it represented a desperate move by a candidate whose public approval numbers had fallen sharply in the most recent Quinnipiac University poll.
“What you saw here today is the playbook of a tired and desperate politician who has no forward vision, no ideas of how to put people back to work,” Patru said. “Linda McMahon believes that what voters are entitled to and what they deserve is a substantive debate on the issues that impact them every day, not a 17-year-old court case, not 21-year-old memos but how do we best put people back to work (in this) economy.”
McMahon has said she will spend up to $50 million to win the race. She has already launched a television advertising blitz, a strategy that appears to be paying dividends: She emerged as the GOP frontrunner in the latest Q poll, though a Rasmussen poll released today found that Simmons would be the strongest Republican against Democratic frontrunner Richard Blumenthal. Simmons has yet to air a single TV commercial.
Simmons took pains to contrast his record as a former Congressman who served in the U.S. Army for 37 years and taught at Yale and UConn with McMahon’s experience at the WWE.
“My public service career is an open book,” he said. “I’ve disclosed personal finances, cast thousands of public votes…people may not agree with every vote I’ve cast but I’ve never done anything to dishonor them and the offices I have held.”
There he was in 2009, elbow-to-elbow with Democratic power brokers at the party’s annual Jefferson-Jackson-Bailey dinner.
But this year, Alpert, a Democrat running for U.S. Senate, plans to be a no-show. He says his decision to skip tonight’s $175-a-plate fundraiser at the Connecticut Convention Center is a matter of principle.
“”In the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, with 174,000 Connecticut citizens out of work, I would rather donate 175 dollars to a soup kitchen than spend it hanging out with a bunch of political fat cats,” Alpert said in a press release announcing his decision.
Alpert intends to donate the $175 he would have spent on a ticket to the New London Community Meal Center, where he will help serve tonight’s dinner.
The Day’s Ted Mann has an explosive story online tonight: Republican Senate candidate Linda McMahon tipped off doctor George T. Zahorian that the U.S. Department of Justice might be about to launch an investigation.
McMahon told Mann that she doesn’t “pretend to remember to go back, to revisit all the aspects of that case.”
“It has been tried, acquitted and done with, and WWE has evolved its total health and wellness policy over the years, and I’m sure will continue to evolve,” she said.
Mann asked her if the decision to notify Zahorian had led him to destroy records that might provided investigators documents on the sale of steroids to the company’s wrestlers.
“McMahon’s reply was curt,” Mann wrote.
“I can’t speak to any of that,” she said. “I have no idea.”
Mann also interviewed Dave Meltzer, who writes the respected Wrestling Observer newsletter. He said McMahon’s decision to tip off Zahorian may have impacted the investigation.
“There was nothing to get on them, because of what happened,” Meltzer told Mann. “My thought was always if Linda was not tipped off and Zahorian was not tipped off … and all these wrestlers’ files come up, and all these names come up … At that point I think it would have been a very, very strong case.”
While 1st District Congressman John Larson is hanging with big donors in Napa Valley, his Republican opponent is getting ready to launch his campaign.
Mark Zydanowicz, whose campaign email describes him as a “husband, father, soldier and businessman.” will officially enter the race on Monday, when he holds a press conference at the Legislative Office Building.
He is a captain in the Connecticut Army National Guard and served on various missions, including a recent combat mission to Iraq, where he earned a bronze star.
Zydanowicz grew up in New Britain and graduated with a bachelor of science in marketing from Central Connecticut State University. He lives with his wife, Nella, and three children in West Hartford.
“Justice Stevens has left an indelible mark on our judicial system – not only with his principled rulings, but with his good humor and abiding respect for the rule of law,” Dodd said in a statement. “His nearly 35 years of service on the Supreme Court will forever be remembered with gratitude and appreciation, and I wish him all the best in his retirement.”
“I am confident that President Obama will select a qualified nominee to replace Justice Stevens, and I look forward to working with Chairman Leahy and my colleagues on both sides of the aisle on that nomination. Our country deserves a civil process and a speedy confirmation of the next Associate Justice.”
House GOP Leader Lawrence Cafero is calling for a meeting with legislative leadership to clarify the policy regarding flags at the Capitol.
His call comes on the heels of the controversy over the Connecticut Tea Party Patriots’ request to fly the “Don’t Tread on Me” flag. Capitol police, who oversee flag-flying requests, initially approved it, but yesterday they rescinded permission because the flag-waving ceremony was followed by a political event with Tea Party candidates.
Though the decision to deny permission was made by Acting Capitol Police Chief Walter Lee, it came after House Democrats complained, Cafero said.
Cafero said he objects to “one out of four caucuses having that kind of influence.”
“Why were we not consulted as legislative leaders?” Cafero asked.
He wants leaders from both parties to meet ASAP to clarify what he calls a “vague policy…so that this kind of thing doesn’t happen again.”
The policy, instituted after a similar uproar at the Captiol over the flying of the Rainbow flag, a universal emblem of gay rights. Following that 1999 controversy, new guidelines were drafted by the Office of Legislative Management. Read them here.
Noted criminal defense lawyer and civil rights advocate Norm Pattis weighs in on the brouhaha on his blog today.
He thinks Capitol police were wrong to reverse an earlier decision granting Tea Party activists the right to fly the flag above the Capitol.
“Symbols are part and parcel of political speech,” Pattis write. “A group that wants to shake its fist in the very face of a government it believes to be losing touch with the people it represents should be free to fly the flag. But in this case, new tyrants say no.”
Read the entire post here.
“Our country owes Justice Stevens tremendous gratitude and recognition for his decades of judicial service,” he said in a statement. “I wish him happiness in the next chapter of his life and look forward to a civil and bipartisan nomination process as we seek to fill his seat on the bench.”
A day after they were denied permission to hang the “Don’t Tread on Me” flag at the state Capitol, about two dozen Tea Party activists gathered in front of the building this morning to protest the decision.
Among them was Bill Shields, who sells flags on New Haven’s Long Wharf. He was dressed in a Revolutionary War soldier’s garb, including the traditional tricorn hat.
They stood in the rain, with several carrying smaller versions of the flag, a historic banner named for Revolutionary War-era patriot Christopher Gadsden. The flag, which features the image of a coiled rattlesnake, has long been a symbol of American defiance; over the past year, it has been adopted by Tea Party activists across the nation.
The rattlesnake is an appropriate symbol for the Tea Party movement, said Joe Markley of Southington, a former state senator from Southington who is once again seeking his old seat.
“A rattlesnake is a uniquely American animal,” he said. “It’s a shy, careful animal that doesn’t look for trouble …and it gives warning with its rattle before it strikes. But it is an animal that will only be pushed so far and when its pushed too far it will strike, and when it strikes, it strikes effectively.”
Bob MacGuffie, an activist from Fairfield, said the flag is an emblem of the philosophy of limited government. “Don’t tread on me. Step back. That’s what this movement is about,” he said after the rally.
Markley, who was first swept into office in the Reagan landslide of 1984 and played a part in the fight against the income tax in the early 1990s, said Tea Party activists have been reawakened and will have an impact on November’s election.
Several candidates attended this morning’s rally, including Jerry Labriola Jr., a Republican running for Congress in the 3rd District, Rob Merkle, who is running for Congress in the 4th, and Warren Mosler, who is seeking the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate.
State Capitol Police, the agency in charge of managing the state’s flag policy, had initially approved the Connecticut Tea Party Patriots’ request to hang the Gadsden Flag over the Capitol. But several lawmakers complained that the flag was a political symbol and did not meet the restrictions of the policy, especially since the Tea Party group had planned to host a rally for candidates after the flag-raising ceremony.
“This is a great flag and it’s an insult to this country and to the men [of the] Revolutionary War who fought under this flag to say the flag is not worthy to fly over the state Capitol building,” Markley said.
Markley and several other speakers specifically criticized state Democratic state Rep. Michael Lawlor of East Haven, who questioned whether the flag met the state’s policy but had nothing to do with state Capitol Police Chief Walter Lee’s decision to revoke permission for the flag-raising.
“To have the Speaker of the House and the President of the Senate and Mike Lawlor, who’s been here for 25 years, to say ‘Oh politics at the state Capitol, God forbid there should be any politics at the state capitol,”’ Markley said, drawing laughs from the small crowd.
He called Lawlor “a public nuisance.”
“He has has stood up and made himself a target,” Markley added. “The man who stood up for the state income tax, the man who tried to takle [away] the right of the Catholic church to govern itself…he is going to be target number one of the Tea Party movement statewide.”
Markley said the group will submit another request to raise the flag at the Capitol. The group is considering holding an event on June 2 and may make the request in conjunction with that, he said.
(PHOTO BY ANDY ZAREMBA / FOX CT)
Conn. AG Richard Blumenthal doesn’t want to sue the federal government to block the healthcare overhaul because he is in “Washington back pocket,” Schiff, a Republican running for U.S. Senate, says on his website. “But Blumenthal has a sworn duty to uphold the Constitution and protect the citizens he serves, even when it means putting his personal feelings aside.”