The 2012 United States Senate election in Connecticut was held on November 6, 2012, in conjunction with the 2012 U.S. presidential election, other elections to the United States Senate in other states, as well as elections to the United States House of Representatives, and various state and local elections. Primaries to elect Senate candidates from the Republican and Democratic parties were held on Tuesday, August 14, 2012.
Incumbent U.S. Senator Joe Lieberman, an independent who caucused with the Democratic Party, decided to retire instead of running for re-election to a fifth term. U.S Representative Chris Murphy defeated businesswoman and future Secretary of Education Linda McMahon, marking two defeats for her in two years.
Elected at the age of 39, Chris Murphy would be the youngest senator in the 113th United States Congress. Murphy was sworn in on January 3, 2013, marking the first time since 1967 that Connecticut had an entirely Democratic congressional delegation.
Background In the 2006 election, incumbent Joe Lieberman was defeated in the Democratic primary by businessman Ned Lamont and formed his own party, Connecticut for Lieberman, winning re-election. Lieberman promised to remain in the Senate Democratic Caucus, but had since stood against the Democrats on many significant issues, including his endorsement of Republican 2008 presidential nominee John McCain over Barack Obama. As a result, Lieberman's poll numbers among Democrats dropped significantly.
Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal was reportedly considering a run against Lieberman, but instead ran for and won Connecticut's other Senate seat in 2010 after U.S. Senator Christopher Dodd announced his retirement.
Lieberman had publicly floated the possibility of running as a Democrat, Republican, or an independent. However, on January 19, 2011, he announced that he would not run for another term.
Democratic primary
Candidates
Declared Susan Bysiewicz, former Connecticut Secretary of State Chris Murphy, U.S. Representative Sylvester Salcedo, attorney Lee Whitnum, anti-AIPAC activist and software engineer
Withdrawn Matthew Oakes, activist (endorsed Murphy) William Tong, State Representative (running for re-election; endorsed Murphy)
Debates The first Democratic debate took place on February 23, 2012, with Murphy, Bysiewicz, and Tong participating. The first televised debate was held on April 5, with Murphy, Bysiewicz, Tong, Oakes, and Whitnum participating. A debate was held at UConn on April 9, with the five candidates participating. A debate sponsored by WFSB took place on April 15, with all five taking part.
Convention Delegates of the Connecticut Democratic Party endorsed Chris Murphy at their state party convention held on May 12. Murphy was the choice of 1,378 delegates (76 percent), while Susan Bysiewicz won 444 delegates (24 percent), enough to qualify for the August 14 primary. Matthew Oakes received the support of one delegate from Hartford. Lee Whitnum's name was not placed in nomination.
Endorsements
Polling Poll source SusanBysiewicz ChrisMurphy WilliamTong Other UndecidedPublic Policy PollingPublic Policy Polling March 17–20, 2011 400 ±4.9% 38% 40% — — 21%Quinnipiac September 8–13, 2011 447 ±4.6% 26% 36% 1% 2% 35%Public Policy PollingPublic Policy Polling September 22–25, 2011 400 ±4.9% 33% 39% 8% — 19%QuinnipiacQuinnipiac March 14–19, 2012 640 ±3.9% 25% 37% 4% 5% 29%QuinnipiacQuinnipiac May 29 – June 3, 2012 538 ±4.2% 20% 50% — 5% 24%Public Policy PollingPublic Policy Polling July 26–29, 2012 400 ±4.9% 32% 49% — — 18%
Results
Republican primary
Candidates
Declared Brian Hill, attorney Peter Lumaj, attorney Linda McMahon, businesswoman and nominee for the U.S. Senate in 2010 Chris Shays, former U.S. Representative Kie Westby, attorney
Declined John Ratzenberger, actor
Debates A debate sponsored by the Norwich Bulletin took place on April 19, 2012, with McMahon, Shays, Lumaj, Hill, and Westby in attendance. The debate was not televised. The first televised debate took place on April 22, 2012, sponsored by WFSB. All five candidates participated.
Convention Delegates of the Connecticut Republican Party endorsed Linda McMahon at their state party convention held on May 18. McMahon was the choice of 730 delegates (60 percent), while Chris Shays won 389 delegates (32 percent), enough to qualify for the August 14 primary. Brian K. Hill, Peter Lumaj, and Kie Westby did not meet the 15 percent threshold necessary to automatically qualify for the primary, receiving the support of 62, 22, and 5 delegates, respectively. Hill pursued a post-convention attempt to petition his way onto the primary ballot, but fell short of the 8,319 signatures required and suspended his campaign in June.
Endorsements
Polling Poll source JasonMcCoy LindaMcMahon ChrisShays Other UndecidedQuinnipiacQuinnipiac September 8–13, 2011 332 ±5.4% — 50% 35% 2% 12%Public Policy Polling September 22–25, 2011 400 ±4.9% 3% 60% 27% — 10%Quinnipiac March 14–19, 2012 429 ±4.7% — 51% 42% 1% 6%Quinnipiac May 29 – June 3, 2012 381 ±5.0% — 59% 30% 1% 9%Public Policy Polling July 26–29, 2012 400 ±4.9% — 68% 20% — 12%
Results
General election
Candidates Linda McMahon (Republican, Independent), businesswoman and nominee for the U.S. Senate in 2010 Chris Murphy (Democratic, Working Families), U.S. Representative Paul Passarelli (Libertarian)
Campaign Susan Bysiewicz was the first to declare herself as a candidate. However, by March 2011 Chris Murphy had raised over $1 million to Bysiewicz's $500,000. Murphy had won election to Connecticut's 5th congressional district, which is considered Republican-leaning, and he promoted himself as the most electable candidate against a Republican challenger. Bysiewicz, the former Secretary of the State of Connecticut, enjoyed high name recognition while a statewide officeholder, and had a formidable face-off with Murphy. William Tong, a state representative, joined the race touting his biography as the son of Chinese immigrants working at a Chinese restaurant. In January East Hartford resident Matthew John Oakes announced his candidacy. Oakes pointed to his real-life experience being a disabled American, victim of crime, and civil rights activist, growing up in the inner city and being a political outsider.
Wide speculation continued on Linda McMahon, who had lost in a widely publicized race for senator in 2010. She lost the election decisively, but had strong finances and a well-established political organization. McMahon met with her former campaign consultant to review her 2010 results, and said she was leaning towards running. She planned to make a decision regarding another run after the start of 2012. Former congressman Chris Shays joined in August 2011, promoting his involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan's military contracting. Shays campaign had also gained traction from a series of independent polls showing him beating or in a dead heat with the top Democratic contenders in the general election, while those same polls showed McMahon losing handily to each of the top Democratic contenders. The Shays campaign quickly capitalized on these polls, arguing for the former Congressman's electability while questioning McMahon's electability due to her loss in an open Senate seat contest in 2010 by a large margin despite spending $50 million of her own money, also citing her high unfavorable numbers among state voters, and the weak fundraising numbers of the McMahon campaign.
In July 2012, Shays declared that he would not support McMahon if she won the primary. He said that he had "never run against an opponent that I have respected less—ever—and there are a lot of candidates I have run against," adding that "I do not believe that Linda McMahon has spent the time, the energy to determine what [being] a senator really means." He also said that during the last debate he had with McMahon, "I thought she was embarrassingly clueless" and that "I think she is a terrible candidate and I think she would make a terrible senator." Although he said he would not support Chris Murphy, he expected him to win the Democratic nomination and the general election.
In September 2012, the records of the McMahons' 1976 bankruptcy and specifics of nearly $1 million unpaid debts from the proceeding were published.Reindl, JC, "Records: McMahons owed nearly $1 million in 1976 bankruptcy", The Day, September 18/19, 2012. Retrieved December 26, 2016. In days the candidate and her husband announced the "intention to reimburse all private individual creditors that can be located".Altimari, Daniela, "McMahon To Repay Creditors From 1970s Bankruptcy", Hartford Courant, September 20, 2012. Retrieved December 26, 2016.
Debates Complete video of debate, October 7, 2012 Complete video of debate, October 11, 2012 Complete video of debate, October 16, 2012 Complete video of debate, October 18, 2012
Fundraising Candidate (party) Receipts Disbursements Cash on hand DebtChris Murphy (D) $10,543,456 $10,436,219 $107,239 $189,925Linda McMahon (R) $50,956,502 $50,262,442 $351,464 $1,250,000 Source: Federal Election Commission
Top contributors Chris Murphy Contribution Linda McMahon Contribution Moveon.org $112,864 Morgan Stanley $31,050 Yale University $69,101 Linda McMahon for Senate $26,174 League of Conservation Voters $47,388 General Electric $24,250 Koskoff, Koskoff & Bieder $44,916 Ott International $15,000 Travelers Companies $41,000 Thor Industries $12,500 Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company $40,650 JPMorgan Chase & Co. $11,231 Sullivan & Cromwell $36,500 Ceci Brothers Inc. $10,000 Comcast Corporation $36,000 Invemed Associates $10,000 Shipman & Goodwin $35,511 Midstream Partners $10,000 Northeast Utilities $34,789 Tudor Investment Corporation $10,000 Source: OpenSecrets
Top industries
Chris Murphy Contribution Linda McMahon Contribution Retired $1,041,795 Financial Institutions $121,717 Lawyers/Law Firms $861,258 Retired $81,949 Financial Institutions $580,370 Misc Business $55,302 Real Estate $319,466 Manufacturing & Distributing $46,500 Leadership PACs $302,500 Misc Finance $38,050 Insurance Industry $302,025 Business Services $28,932 Health Professionals $285,150 Real Estate $27,000 Democratic/Liberal $267,018 Republican/Conservative $25,630 Universities $232,951 Candidate Committees $24,874 Business Services $228,550 Lawyers/Law Firms $24,372 Source: OpenSecrets
Predictions Source Ranking As of The Cook Political Report November 1, 2012 Sabato's Crystal Ball November 5, 2012 Rothenberg Political Report November 2, 2012 Real Clear Politics November 5, 2012
Polling