For the CT Senate Candidates, Hurricane Sandy Means Meeting With Officials, Visiting Shelters and Dispensing Hugs

Democrat Chris Murphy and Republican Linda McMahon were charging toward the biggest election of their political lives when Hurricane Sandy struck.

“This was such a horrible storm.  We’ve been to shelters along the shoreline, delivering pizzas and coloring books and crayons for the kids, I haven’t been home in three day,” McMahon told Courant staff writer Bill Leukhardt Thursday at a shelter in Bridgeport. “Hot food is something the shelters need.”

McMahon spokesman Todd Abrajano said the campaign has focused on strom response because so many state residents are hurting.

“We just had a pretty big storm, the political campaign can wait,” he said. “The people effected by this storm have priority at this point.”

For Murphy, the reaction was obvious: shift into Congressman-mode. As the U.S. representative for the 5th District, Murphy has kept up a busy schedule, meeting with town officials and attending Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s morning briefings at the state’s emergency operations center.

“He is very focused on his job as a congressman,” said Eli Zupnick, a spokesman for Murphy’s Senate campaign. “We are keeping an eye on when it would be appropriate to get back on a campaign schedule, but that will be dictated by storm response and recovery.”

For a candidate who does not currently hold elective office, navigating the storm’s aftermath can be trickier. McMahon, the former CEO of WWE, has no official role to play, but she has been visiting parts of the state hard hit by the storm.

For the past two days, McMahon has stopped in at emergency shelters  and visiting first responders, often bearing gifts, according to her Twitter feed.

“Delivering pizzas to volunteer firefighters in Stamford,” McMahon tweeted Tuesday afternoon.

“Dropped off some coloring books and Halloween candy for kids at the shelter at the Lyme Senior Center,” she tweeted this morning.

While McMahon, a multimillionaire who has invested nearly $44 million in her current run for Senate, usually comes to emergency shelters bearing gifts, she said sometimes people need something money can’t buy.

“People here for shelter and security, sometimes they just need a hug and someone to listen to them,” she tweeted.

 Neither the Murphy nor McMahon campaigns would say definitively when the candidates would return to the trail. The election is six days from Wednesday.