One less potential open seat for Dems to worry about:
Congressman Joe Courtney said Monday he would not run for U.S. Senate in 2012.
In a statement release Monday morning, Courtney said: “I am truly grateful for the tremendous encouragement and enthusiastic support I have received from leaders across Connecticut as I have considered this question. I look forward to working with all of those who reached out to create a strong future for our state. After careful deliberation, however, I have decided to focus on my work as a Congressman and will decline to enter the race for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate.”.
So far, U.S. Rep. Chris Murphy and former Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz have announced they will run for the seat now held by Joseph Lieberman, who is not seeking re-election.
This most immediately seems to be a boon to Murphy, as Courtney cuts a more similar profile to him than Bysiewicz and thus would likely have siphoned off more of Murphy’s vote than Bysie’s.
I glad.
Perhaps, but isn’t there also some overlap between Courtney’s district and Bysiewicz’s geographic base?
I think Murphy is the clear front-runner here – a crowded field might work better for him than a one-on-one with Bysiewicz?
Not certain on either interpretation, but also not certain about the premise that Courtney’s decision inherently helps Murphy.
If it’s a one-on-one race between him and Bysiewicz Murphy should clean up pretty handily. And the chances of a Republican winning this race are minimal, and even less without a clustered, brutal Democratic primary.
She’s damaged goods, and Murphy as a sitting rep has better opportunity for free press. If it stays Murphy-Bysiewicz, he wins the primary by 15-20 points. Courtney just saved another open seat, too, and it’s one that has a history of flipping and close races so there’ll be no headaches in CT-02 at least.
A Murphy-McMahon general should be interesting; he’s young enough that he probably watched a lot of wrestling back in the 80s-early 90s glory days.
I definitely remember her jumping out very quickly after Dodd retired and when Blumenthal ran for that seat instead of against Lieberman, so for me it was clear she’s been running for Senate for quite some time. But why didn’t she just go for Gov instead of Senate? I don’t know enough about CT-Gov 2010; did she have weak numbers, fundraising, or both were strong but not going to cut it?
And then her run for AG? What the hell was she thinking? Her political story is very interesting as you have to wonder who her advisors were, what they hell they were smoking and if they share. Such a promising career gone to the tubes for absolutely no reason. I get that she wanted to be Senator, but she should have just gone for Gov instead. If she won, great, take over for Blummey when he retires then. If you lost the primary, then you are set up for the Senate seat this cycle and losing gets you sympathy as a Dem primary loser with Dem primary voters.
She pulls at my heart strings, as all women politicians do (even the Republicans.) She had such a promising path in front of her and now she’s a bit of a joke. What the hell happened?
Don’t you think? It would have effectively been West CT politician versus a Central CT candidate and an Eastern CT candidate. As it is I feel like Himes and Courtney will probably be backing Murphy. And I have a feeling Malloy will try to remain neutral even though he and Byciewez, (horribly hard to spell), share a lot of turf and connections.
I am not progressive in my thinking and the electorate in Connecticut is not as progressive as some believe. Take in point Lieberman’s re-election, Malloy’s close victory, and Shays and Simmons holding on to their district for so long. Bysiewicz is hardly popular in Connecticut. She was an utter failure. I expect her primary challenge to be as short lived as her gubernatorial run. Having Obama on the ballot and that should help with turnout in places like Bridgeport (absent Bridgeport, both Malloy and Himes would have lost). However, I would not be as quick to claim that Chris Murphy has any edge. First, he is largely unknown outside his district. Second, Malloy will most certainly be a liability come 2012. I expect his approval rating to be in the negative territory come spring (don’t expect a net positive recovery anytime soon). Finally, there is no guarantee that Bridgeport will come out as strong a third time. The other unknown is whether Republicans can come up with a strong moderate candidate, such as Simmons or Shays (he would have to move back from Maryland first). As for now, this race is at best a Tossup.
He barely won the Governor’s race, even after every poll showed him comfortably ahead. He was barely re-elected mayor of Stamford on his last try. The fact is that Malloy is not very popular, nor was he ever. Now he is proposing new taxes increases on everyone. The state electorate will sour on him very quick. If 2010 produced anything solid, then LOSERS would be the word: Scott (FL), Malloy (CT), Kasich (OH), and Walker (WI). Winning a close race does not give you a mantle to stand on. These are four one-termers here.
I guess Malloy’s popularity will be on display today during the Special Election. There are three State Senate seats up and 6 State Senate seats up:
6 – New Britain
13 – Meriden
27 – Stamford
20 – West Hartford
25 – New Britain
36 – Chester
99 – East Haven
101 – Guilford
126 – Bridgeport
**Bridgeport is rather exciting. You have 1 Democrat, five petitioning Democrats, and 1 Republican. If Republicans ever had a chance here, then this would be their only time.
The 25th in New Britain has no Republican nominee, therefore by default, that will remain Democratic.