Murphy shares campaign riches with state Democrats

Seeking second term, senator has developed national profile

West Hartford — With a campaign war chest 100 times bigger than his little-known opponent’s, U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy is sharing some of his riches with Connecticut Democrats in hopes of helping the party continue its dominance in state races.

Murphy, who is seeking a second term in November, has transferred $320,000 from his campaign to the state’s Democratic party. The 45-year-old Democrat has developed a national profile, partly for his stance on stronger gun laws, and frequently appears on national TV. At the same time, he’s been knocking on doors across Connecticut with more than 30 legislative hopefuls and appearing alongside the party’s nominee for governor, Ned Lamont.

“This is an exceptional year,” Murphy said in an interview with The Associated Press. “Given the importance of this election in Connecticut and the way in which so many folks are plugged into what’s happening in Washington, I wanted to make sure we were doing everything possible to get the highest turnout we could.”

Murphy has amassed $14.5 million for his re-election bid, attracting contributions from many outside Connecticut through his advocacy on issues, including gun control and opposition to many policies of President Donald Trump. That’s more than the roughly $9 million Democratic U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut raised for his re-election in 2016, when he defeated former Republican state Rep. Dan Carter, who raised nearly $384,000. Meanwhile, it’s a far cry from the $35 million that incumbent Texas Sen. Ted Cruz has accumulated for his campaign. Cruz is running in one of this year’s most closely watched, high-profile races that has attracted campaign contributions from across the country.

Murphy’s Republican opponent, Matt Corey, has raised less than $85,000. An Irish pub owner who closed the establishment in May to find a larger location, Corey also runs a high-rise window cleaning business, Corey says he questions Murphy’s level of commitment to his re-election campaign. Corey has complained he and Murphy are debating only once before the Nov. 6 election.

“He’s absolutely not taking this race seriously. He’s avoiding it at all costs,” said Corey, who also had two unsuccessful bids for the U.S. House of Representatives. “I believe he doesn’t want to legitimize my candidacy.”

Corey supports many of Trump’s policies, including his tax cuts, more apprenticeship programs to train workers and rolling back business regulations. He also supports more school choice and stronger enforcement of immigration laws, and has voiced concern about the spread of what he calls “radical Islam.”

A Quinnipiac University Poll conducted in early October showed Murphy leading Corey by a 57-42 percent margin. The survey had a margin of sampling error of 5 percentage points.

It is not uncommon for wellknown U.S. senators to build large fundraising bases and transfer some of the money to help their party locally, according to Stephen Spaulding, chief of strategy at the election watchdog group Common Cause in Washington, D.C.

“That’s a big part of fundraising,” he said. “It is to build up power and influence, both within their own elected bodies ... but also within their home states.”

In Connecticut, Democrats currently control both houses of the General Assembly and hold the governor’s office. But the gubernatorial race is tight and control of the state Senate, and possibly the House of Representatives, could be at stake. There is also an open congressional seat, a race for which Murphy recruited newcomer Jahana Hayes, who could become Connecticut’s first black woman elected to Congress.

Murphy said his $320,000 contribution to the state party is supporting a field organizing program that’s focused on turning out Democrats across Connecticut in November. It complements an initiative Murphy began last year called FightBack CT, which he also funded with campaign cash, to help train and recruit volunteers getting involved in politics for the first time because of their opposition to Trump’s policies.

Trump has been a unifying theme in Murphy’s appearances with other Democratic candidates around the state. Murphy and Lamont were scheduled to appear together Wednesday at the Hartford school where former Vice President Joe Biden will headline a Democratic rally on Friday. They were expected to link Trump’s education policies with those of Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Stefanowski.

It was a similar scenario at a recent campaign stop at a senior center in West Hartford, where the two painted Stefanowski as a Trump ally. Murphy likened Stefanowski’s plan to eventually eliminate the personal income tax and two business taxes to Trump’s recent tax cuts, which Murphy claimed will benefit the wealthy and ultimately lead to cuts in health care for seniors. Stefanowski has said his tax cuts are needed to jumpstart the state’s economy.

As if on cue, Lamont repeated Murphy’s message minutes later.

“Chris, I think, said it so well,” Lamont said. “Bob Stefanowski’s plan is right out of the Trump playbook.”