Malloy Promises To “Do Anything He Can” For Murphy

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy endorsed fellow Democrat Chris Murphy in late April but he hasn’t had much of a public presence in the hotly contested U.S. Senate race.

Malloy “made clear to Chris and the campaign that he will do anything he can to help him,” Roy Occhiogrosso, senior adviser to the governor, said early Thursday. That includes behind-scenes help raising money, Occhiogrosso added.  “He considers getting Chris Murphy elected a top priority.”

Later in the day, Malloy told CT News Junkie that Murphy needs to fight back against attacks from Republican Linda McMahon.

Occhiogrosso said Murphy’s election is important to Malloy not only because  he believes the Democrat is far superior to McMahon but because control of the Senate is at stake.

“All of us are frightened quite frankly of the Republicans being in control of the…Senate,” Occhiogrosso said.

Malloy’s recent poll numbers are hovering below 50 percent; 43 percent of likely voters approved and 44 percent disapproved of the job Malloy is doing, found a Quinnipiac University poll released late last month.

But the Murphy campaign isn’t worried the governor’s lukewarm popularity ratings will drag down Murphy.

“We appreciate Governor Malloy’s support for Chris Murphy’s campaign,” said spokesman Eli Zupnick. “He’s told us that he is happy to continue helping Chris with the campaign and we plan to take him up on that.”