Tong wins Dem endorsement, faces primary
HARTFORD — Sixthterm state Rep. William Tong could become the state’s first Asian-American attorney general after he picked up the Democratic party’s endorsement Saturday at the state convention in two rounds of voting.
“We’ve made history,” Tong said. “We’ve done something nobody in Connecticut has ever done. Together, 2,000 of us have for the first time ever nominated an Asian-American for constitutional office in the state of Connecticut.”
The Ivy League-educated son of Chinese immigrant parents, Tong, 44, won the nomination with 46 percent in the first round, and 63 percent in the second.
The Stamford resident was challenged by state Sen. Paul Doyle, who received 15 percent in the first round and qualified for the August primary, former federal prosecutor Chris Mattei, who also qualified with 33 percent in the first round and 38 percent in the second. Former assistant attorney general Clare Kindall ended the first round of voting with 5 percent after she threw her support behind Tong.
Having qualified for the primary, Doyle dropped his name from the ballot in the second round and instructed his delegates to “vote their conscience” to come up with an endorsed candidate. He accepted congratulations as he navigated the crowd during the second round, asking people for their support in the primary.
The current attorney general, Democrat George Jepsen, is not seeking reelection.
The vote for attorney general reflected significant horse-trading. Doyle eked over the 15 percent threshold by 21 votes, in large part with the help of 60 votes from Bridgeport — the result of his support for Mayor Joe Ganim in the voting for governor an hour earlier.
“Doyle helped Joe with some delegates,” explained Ernie Newton, a Bridgeport City Council member and former legislator who pleaded guilty to corruption charges. “I served with him in the House ... he’s a good guy.”
Some Tong supporters said they voted for Doyle in the first round in order to give Doyle the 15 percent he needed to qualify for a primary — thereby freeing his supporters to switch to Tong in the second round and push Tong over the 50 percent he needed to win the endorsement.
Mattei led the public corruption unit in the U.S. attorney’s office in Connecticut, sending disgraced former Gov. John G. Rowland, a Republican, back to prison for campaign fraud. Doyle, a fiscally conservative Democrat from Wethersfield, sided with Republicans on a key budget vote last year.
Sue Hatfield, a former registered nurse from Pomfret who has been a state prosecutor for the last 13 years, won the Republican nomination for state attorney general.
“To the Republican nominees Sue Hatfield, and Mark Boughton and Joe Markley ... If you think you’re going to ride a wave of bigotry and hate, you’re going to have to come through me and all of us and we are not afraid of you,” Tong said during his acceptance speech.