Democratic U.S. Senate candidates Chris Murphy and Susan Bysiewicz will face on-another Thursday at their first formal debate since the Democratic state convention.

The debate, presented by the WNPR public affairs program “Where We Live,” will be held in Davidson Hall at Central Connecticut State University in New Britain. It is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. and conclude at 10:45 a.m. and the public is invited to attend.

Questions will be asked by two politicians: Democratic former gubernatorial and U.S. Senate candidate Ned Lamont, who is a political science professor at CCSU, and Republican gubernatorial candidate Oz Griebel, the CEO of the MetroHartford Alliance. “Where We Live” host John Dankosky will serve as the debate’s moderator.

Murphy and Bysiewicz are scheduled to appear at a candidate’s forum in Westport Wednesday night but the CCSU debate marks the first time that the two Democrats will face off against one another in a formal debate without the other Democratic candidates: state Rep. William Tong, who dropped his bid earlier this month; Matthew Oakes and Lee Whitnum.

Murphy, a congressman who represents the 5th District, won the endorsement of delegates at a party convention last month but Bysiewicz met the threshold to participate in a primary, which will be held on Aug. 14.

The two are vying for the Senate seat currently held by Joseph Lieberman, who is not seeking reelection.

Former Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz, whose grandparents came to the U.S. from Poland in the 1920s, will mine those ethnic ties at a fundraiser in New Britain Thursday night.

Bysiewicz, a Democrat running for the open seat, is holding an event at the Belvedere Cafe and Restaurant on Broad Street.

“There’s a big pocket of Polish-Americans in New Britain and they want to help her out,” campaign manager Jonathan Ducote said. “They were kind enough to open the Belvedere, which is a big part of New Britain’s revitalization.”

Bysiewicz isn’t the only Democratic U.S. Senate candidate from Connecticut with Polish roots: Chris Murphy, the party-endorsed candidate, is also Polish-American. His mother’s maiden name is Lewczyk.

Democratic Gov. Dannel P. Malloy refrained Tuesday from taking a public position on Bridgeport Democrats’ choice of a convicted felon, former state Sen. Ernest E. Newton II, as the party’s candidate for the 23rd District seat in the state Senate – the very same office that Newton was convicted of using to solicit a $5,000 bribe, in one of three corruption felonies to which he pleaded guilty in 2005.  He later served four years in federal prison.

Malloy called Newton’s candidacy a “local issue,” and said he believes in “second chances” for offenders.

He said that Bridgeport voters should take into account “all factors,” including “history,” when they choose between Newton and two potential competitors in an Aug. 14 primary for the nomination. But that’s about as far as he went.

Newton Monday night won endorsement for his old Senate seat at a Democratic convention in Bridgeport, defeating two current Democratic legislators from that city – the incumbent senator, Edwin Gomes, and state Rep. Andres Ayala Jr., both of whom received enough delegate support to force an Aug. 14 primary.

Bridgeport Mayor, Bill Finch issued a statement saying that “when Ernie and I spoke recently I told him I do not think this is the best decision for him or the city.”

But when Malloy was asked his reaction to Newton’s endorsement in the state Capitol Tuesday, he was noncommittal.

“It’s a local issue, first and foremost,” Malloy said. “I did read about it. I would urge, as I would in every election, that voters take into consideration all of the abilities of the people that they have to choose from. It looks like there may three names on the ballot. And so I think the people of Bridgeport have a decision to make.

“I have to say to you that I’ve long been an advocate of a second-chance society. As a prosecutor, as a governor, as a mayor I’ve advocated for second chances. But ultimately in the political arena that’s a decision for the public to make.”

But what about Newton’s record as a convicted felon who served in prison? he was asked.

“He’s not on the radio with a radio show,” Malloy said – in a jab at Republican ex-governor John G. Rowland. Rowland resigned as governor in mid-2004, pleaded guilty to corruption and spent 10 months in federal prison before assuming his current role as an afternoon radio talk show host on WTIC 1080 AM. Asked if he meant that ex-convicts shouldn’t have radio shows, Malloy replied, That’s not what I said. … The thing about a radio show is you can decide not to listen – which I can assure you I do.”

With regard to Newton, Malloy said: “I think ultimately people get to make a definitive decision in a primary that’s going to occur pretty quickly. And, since I don’t know what exactly will happen, how will this race will set up – whether it will be three candidates, two candidates or one candidate – I’ll reserve judgment. … Again I urge the voters to take history, all of the factors, into the consideration and make a decision. … I’m not endorsing anyone today … because we don’t know enough. I mean, the race isn’t fully shaped.”

“I think I’ve said enough,” he said. “I’ve urged people to take all factors into consideration when they make a judgment in a primary vote. And that’s as far as I’m going to go today.”

“It’s not the first time that people who have had legal difficulties offer themselves for office,” Malloy said of Newton. “It’s not the only profession that happens in. And … I think the public has a balancing act. They have to decide whether … the person has paid a sufficient price, whether they’ve expressed sufficient remorse, whether they have the skill set necessary to do the job. … That’s why we have elections, and I would urge all the voters to vote.”

Newton was convicted of accepting a $5,000 bribe in return for securing $100,000 in state bonding funds for a Bridgeport job-training agency. He also was convicted of evading taxes and pilfering campaign contributions to pay for car repairs, personal cellphone calls and other expenses.

Malloy hasn’t always refrained from involving himself in local political races. When Democratic Shawn Wooden withdrew from the Hartford mayor’s race last June 30 and said he said that he would instead run for city council, he said that Malloy had urged him to put his “differences aside” with Democratic incumbent Mayor Pedro Segarra.

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Former state Sen. Ernie Newton, a convicted felon who served time in prison on corruption charges, won the Democratic endorsement for his old state Senate seat on Monday night.

Newton defeated the 76-year-old incumbent, Sen. Edwin A. Gomes, and state Rep. Andres Ayala. The two elected officials from Bridgeport qualified for a potentially contentious primary that would be held on August 14. Gomes had been in ill health around Christmas 2011, but he recovered and voted on virtually all bills in the final, grueling days at the end of the legislative session in May.

In February 2010, four years after he was sentenced on corruption charges, Newton was released from federal prison and transferred to the Chase Center halfway house in Waterbury in the same way that former Bridgeport Mayor Joseph Ganim was transferred from prison to a halfway house in Hartford.

Newton’s release marked the latest chapter in a long-running scandal that culminated in his sentencing for accepting a $5,000 bribe, evading taxes, and pilfering campaign contributions to pay for car repairs, personal cellphone calls and other expenses.

Senior U.S. District Judge Alan H. Nevas criticized Newton at the 2006 sentencing for saying during his resignation speech that he was “the Moses of my people” and for shaking down constituents in his hometown of Bridgeport in return for state funding.

“I don’t think there’s any reference in the Bible … that as God led his people for 40 years in the desert that he ever took money from them,” Nevas said toward the end of the sentencing hearing.

Saying that he had personal insight into Newton’s case from his own career, Nevas mentioned the three terms that he served as a state legislator from Westport before he became a prosecutor and then a federal judge.

“Those were six of the best years of my life,” said Nevas. “It is inconceivable to me that anyone who serves in the General Assembly could make a business out of it, and that’s what you did. … You sold your office.”

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Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a freshman Democrat, endorsed Chris Murphy this morning, but Joseph Lieberman, the state’s senior senator, reiterated his intention not to get involved in 2012 Senate race.

“I’m having such a wonderful time, not running for reelection, focusing on my final months as a senator and my family that I’m going to try very hard to stay out of all other campaigns.” Lieberman said this afternoon, during a brief stop at a Simsbury restaurant to meet with voters.

And that includes the race to succeed him. Lieberman, an independent who caucuses with the Democrats, served with former U.S. Rep. Christopher Shays, one of the Republicans seeking the seat. Lieberman has also met with Linda McMahon, the former CEO of WWE who received the endorsement of delegates at the state GOP convention Friday night.

“I don’t intend to endorse,” Lieberman said.

In fact, Lieberman, who has served in the U.S. Senate since 1988, said he is looking forward to stepping away from the rigors of the campaign trail. Along with several other members of the state’s congressional delegation, including Murphy and Blumenthal, he attended an event spotlighting efforts to win Wild and Scenic Designation for the Farmington River.

“I was thinking…[at] the event on the lower Farmington River, I hope in October of this year, to be in a kayak on the Farmington River,” he said and laughed.

Former U.S. Rep. Christopher Shays filed papers Monday to officially force a primary for the U.S. Senate against Greenwich wrestling entrepreneur Linda McMahon.

Shays placed second Friday night behind McMahon, who won the Republican state convention’s endorsement by a two-to-one margin.

Shays has won 18 elections in a career in the state legislature and at the federal level, where he served for 21 years in the U.S. House of Representatives before losing in 2008 to Democrat Jim Himes. Shays had held off Democrats numerous times, but he was swept out of office as Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama generated a huge voter turnout in Bridgeport in 2008.

“I congratulate Linda McMahon for winning the convention, but this is really a round robin in the sense that we both qualified,” Shays told reporters in the Capitol press room in Hartford. “From now on, it’s winner-take-all. … Folks in Connecticut want good Yankee common sense. They’re not into ideology. Hopefully, they will hear a lot of good common sense from me.”

He added, “Some in the McMahon camp have said it would be nice if I didn’t run. … I made a promise back in December that win or lose the convention, I would go get signatures [to force a primary]. But we don’t need to get signatures. … That’s called democracy. It doesn’t divide a party. It strengthens us.”

Shays is now attempting a political comeback against McMahon, who has now won two consecutive Republican convention endorsements. She lost in 2010 in the race against Democrat Richard Blumenthal by 12 points after spending $50 million of her own money on the effort.

McMahon has repeatedly mentioned that there is very little difference in the voting records between Chris Shays and U.S. Rep. Christopher Murphy, who is running in the Democratic primary against former Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz. Shays, though, rejected the comparisons that have already been outlined in a brochure by McMahon. He said that McMahon could be compared to Murphy in the same way.

McMahon “supported Nancy Pelosi in 2006 by giving her thousands of dollars to make her speaker, and she supported her in 2008 to keep her speaker,” said Shays, referring to the San Francisco Democrat. “That’s a great little sound bite. I hope you use it. But in the end, it’s not going to determine how people vote. She says she wants to repeal Obamacare, but she helped elect a speaker who wrote Obamacare.”

“Chris Murphy and Chris Shays have the same first name,” Shays said of himself. “That’s the only thing we have in common.”

McMahon herself had said that the Republicans would be strongly unified against Murphy if Shays had dropped out of the race.

“Linda McMahon won the endorsement of Connecticut Republicans by a 2 to 1 margin because people are tired of the professional politicians in Washington and are ready for a proven job creator with a detailed plan to turn our economy around and get people back to work,” said campaign spokeswoman Erin Isaac. “Friday night sent a clear message that it is time to unite the party around Linda McMahon so we can focus on beating Chris Murphy in November.”

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HARTFORD – On the state Republican convention floor on Friday night, former U.S. Rep. Christopher Shays said he would support Republicans in November – win or lose.

Shays qualified for the August primary, which his supporters said was an accomplishment because he got into the race late.

Noting that he has won 18 elections in his state and federal career, Shays said, “I know how to win elections.”

When asked about party unity in a divided party, Shays said, “I think party unity requires me to run a primary.”

Shays said that Linda McMahon had gotten smoked by Democrat Richard Blumenthal in the high-profile, big-money U.S. Senate race in 2010.

“She lost by 138,000 votes – 12 percent – in a Republican year,” Shays told reporters on the convention floor. “It was the only state that didn’t win a statewide election or a federal election in the country, and she brought down the rest of the ticket.”

One of the problems, according to Shays supporter John McKinney, was that Republicans had made commitments to McMahon even before Shays got into the race. Shays said that he believes the delegate commitments were up to the convention, and that some of the McMahon supporters will now work for him in the primary.

“If you want someone who can win, and you don’t want Chris Murphy, I think I’m your guy,” Shays said.

Shays said that McMahon will run the same kind of campaign in 2012 as in 2010.

“It means spend whatever it takes, flood your mailboxes, flood your emails … but in the end, that’s not what it takes to win,” he said.

As delegate vote switches were being made at about 11 p.m. Friday, the unofficial tally showed that McMahon had 60 percent of the vote, compared to 32 percent for Shays.

HARTFORD – Over the past decade, one of Chris Shays’s closest political friends has been John McKinney.

The current Senate Republican leader in Hartford, McKinney has been close with Shays as a moderate Republican from Fairfield County. Shays first won the Congressional seat in the Fourth District in August 1987, replacing McKinney’s father, Stewart, who had died earlier that year.

Through a series of elections, McKinney seemed to show up at virtually every debate and fundraiser for the Shays campaign. When Shays was clashing against Democratic upstart Diane Farrell of Westport in two election cycles in 2004 and 2006, McKinney was a constant presence on the campaign and fundraising trail.

On Friday night, McKinney returned once again to help his friend of 25 years.

“I want my country back,” McKinney told delegates at the state party convention in the cavernous convention center in Hartford.

“No one worked harder than Chris Shays,” McKinney said. “Fact: Chris Shays helped draft the Republican Contract with America.”

Based on Shays’s budget credentials, Speaker Newt Gingrich boosted him on the budget committee.

“Chris Shays has proven he can balance the federal budget. He is a winner and a fighter and a proven vote-getter,” McKinney said. “Chris has always beaten the odds. … When Chris first ran for Congress, he finished last. Dead last [before running in the 1987 five-way Republican primary]. You know what? He won.”

To second the nomination of Shays, former state party chairman Robert S.Poliner screamed into the microphone that President Obama must lose in 2012. Some delegates turned their heads because Poliner was so loud.

“I know Christopher Shays. He is a man of unquestioned principles and integrity,” Poliner said, recalling Shays’s clash against “a corrupt Hartford probate judge” who was eventually impeached.

Poliner boomed, ”We must win! There is no other option!”

In an apparent reference to McMahon, Poliner said that Connecticut residents should not “throw away their own votes or their own money.”

Once the voting began, the split in the Greenwich delegation was emblematic  of the split between Shays and former wrestling entrepreneur Linda McMahon of Greenwich.

Traditionally, Greenwich Republicans rallied strongly around Shays and provided huge margins of victory in his Congressional races. They also poured huge amounts of money into his campaign coffers.

On Friday night, 14 of the 22 Greenwich delegates voted for McMahon, while 7 voted for Shays. One delegate voted for Brian K. Hill. State Rep. Fred Camillo, former Greenwich GOP chairman Ed Dadakis and state Rep. Lile Gibbons are all supporting Shays, while Rep. Livvy Floren and First Selectman Peter Tesei are both backing McMahon.

In Simsbury, the party was split down the middle with four votes for Shays, four for McMahon and one for attorney Peter Lumaj.

The statewide party is clearly split in many ways. Republicans have traditionally rallied around a single candidate, but the votes – and the delegates – have been all over the place this year. Mayor Mark Boughton is supporting McMahon, as is state Rep. Bill Wadsworth of Farmington, Rep. Selim Noujaim of Waterbury, and two of the most conservative state senators in Hartford – Sen. Joe Markley of Southington and Sen. Len Suzio of Meriden. In Litchfield, all five delegates were for McMahon, and all six in New Britain were for McMahon.

As the night went on, McMahon’s lead continued increasing – jumping to 58 percent to 31 percent by 9:45 p.m. Shays was huddling with his supporters near the East Lyme delegation, getting the latest details.

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HARTFORD – The two top Republican leaders at the state Capitol – House leader Larry Cafero of Norwalk and Senate leader John McKinney of Fairfield – were featured extensively in a video that was aired at the state party convention in Hartford.

Soon after the video aired Friday night, Cafero stepped to the podium.

“Don’t you dare tell me this is a blue state, baby! Look at this. God bless you,” Cafero told the delegates. ”We’re going to leave here pumped. … Make sure that we take back Connecticut.”

“We borrowed money just to pay the light bill,” Cafero said.

Two years ago, Cafero noted that the Republicans had 37 members in the House and 12 in the Senate. Today, the House has 52 Republicans, and the Senate has 14.

“Is it enough? No, not close,” Cafero said. “We put forth not one, but seven consecutive no-tax-increase budgets.”

Before introducing Cafero, Greenwich Sen. L. Scott Frantz said the state’s finances are not well balanced.

“Yes, we borrowed to cover a deficit,” Frantz said.