The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Tong for Connecticut attorney general
This election season (any election season) the Connecticut Attorney General’s race doesn’t come close to getting the attention it deserves.
The showdown for the office at the top of the ticket steals all the attention.
This AG race has drawn the talent it deserves, as the office’s role as the state’s lawyer routinely shapes daily life.
Republican Susan Hatfield of Pomfret is a refreshing newcomer to the political scene.
She can be disarming in citing Democrats as political role models, including current officeholder George Jepsen. “I don’t feel politics should play a role,” in the office, Hatfield told the Hearst Connecticut Group Editorial Board.
Democrat William Tong has taken the opposing perspective on the attorney general’s role in 2018, deeming it “the last line of defense” and a “firewall” to President Donald Trump.
“This is what this moment demands,” he says of his vision of the office as an activist position.
We tend to agree given the moment in which we live.
Hatfield is positioned as the ideal counterpart to Tong, who characterizes their difference of opinion on immigration issues as “existential.”
She was a delegate for Trump in the 2016 Republican Convention and opposes sanctuary cities, while Tong argues that “he’s coming after people like my parents,” who were Chinese immigrants.
He would create an immigrant rights unit in the office.
Tong, an attorney and Stamford state representative who was leader in the passage of the bump stock ban earlier this year, is committed to shielding Connecticut’s gun safety laws, while Hatfield does not see the need for further gun legislation. Tong has also pledged to focus on discrimination and civil rights cases and has an admirable record on juvenile justice reform.
There’s a lot to like about Hatfield. As a criminal prosecutor, she claims bragging rights to the first conviction for human trafficking, an issue that screams for attention, and shows sensitivity in recognizing that trafficking victims are often treated as criminals. Her experience as a nurse has given her the benefit of being an eyewitness to mental health issues.
We also applaud her candor in admitting when she is uninformed about a topic, rather than to bluff. Tong is well-versed on a myriad of matters, seasoned by eight years in the House, where he is chair of the Judiciary Committee.
He can navigate the General Assembly as well as anyone, an asset for any attorney general.
A rap on Tong is that he has pursued other offices, but we don’t give demerit points for ambition to serve the electorate.
We look forward to history being made with the election of either candidate.
Hatfield would be the first woman elected to the position, and the first Republican to hold the office since the Eisenhower administration.
Tong would be the first Asian-American in the seat.
Hatfield gives voters an admirable option, but we feel William Tong would be the appropriate Connecticut attorney general in “the moment.”