Murphy, Bysiewicz Sidestep Donovan Question At New London Debate

In Monday night’s debate between Democratic U.S. Senate candidates Chris Murphy and Susan Bysiewicz, the final question centered not on a Senate campaign issue but on the Fifth District congressional race.

The Fifth District, which covers many towns in northwestern and central Connecticut, is an open seat because Murphy, the incumbent, is leaving it for his Senate bid. Many observers had thought Democrats would hold on to the seat, especially after state House Speaker Chris Donovan won his party’s convention endorsement over rivals Elizabeth Esty and Dan Roberti.

But in the weeks after the convention, federal investigators announced that the were looking into possible violations of campaign finance laws by former Donovan campaign staffers. On Monday, WTNH-TV Chief Political Correspondent Mark Davis, one of the debate’s questioners, asked Bysiewicz and Murphy if they think the probe would taint Donovan as a nominee and possibly hinder the party’s general election effort if Donovan wins the Aug. 14 primary vote:

Davis: “The convention-endorsed nominee for the Fifth District nomination, Speaker of the House Christoper Donovan, has had eight members–not eight members of his staff, but three members of his campaign– arrested on federal charges and a number of other people who were just in court last week. Do you think that if he ends up being the nominee after the primary, if he wins the primary and ends on the ballot in November, that he will hurt your party’s chances, at least in that district and should he think about stepping down?”

To clarify, eight people have been charged in connection with the federal probe and two of them are former campaign staffers, former finance director Robert Braddock Jr., and former campaign manager Joshua Nassi.

At least of Donovan’s competitors for the seat, Republican Mark Greenberg and Democrat Dan Roberti, have called for the House Speaker to end his congressional run. But on Monday, both Bysiewicz and Murphy were more cautious about what Donovan should do and they said nothing about what impact Donovan’s presence on a November ballot would have on the party. The question even appeared to catch Bysiewicz by surprise, initially:

Bysiewicz: “That is…His decision is his decision and the decision should be left up to the voters. They get to decide and I believe that somebody’s innocent until proven guilty. He has the opportunity–these charges are very serious. He has the opportunity to make that decision and the voters will have the opportunity in the primary to make their decision.”

Murphy, who served with Donovan in the state Legislature in the past, has heartily praised Donovan in the past, including remarks at an event where Donovan and Murphy were endorsed by the Connecticut Citizens Action Group. At the event, which took place just days before the campaign financing scandal broke, Murphy said, “There was no greater leader for consumers and for the middle class than Chris Donovan. He’s a unique voice on behalf of the issues that CCAG cares about and that the people of the state of Connecticut care about and I’m really proud to be standing here with him today.”

But on Monday, Murphy echoed Bysiewicz and also didn’t take any position on whether Donovan’s presence would hurt the party in November. He did not even mention the Speaker’s name.

Murphy: “I think the voters are going to make this decision two weeks from today. We all worry about what our staff may be saying and doing on our behalf and I continue to hope that this is an incident of one very reckless and irresponsible staffer. The fact is, ultimately, that the voters are going to get to make a choice. They’ve read a lot about this over the course of the last few weeks and they’re going to have all the information in front of them when they go to the polls.”

Neither Donovan himself nor any of his current campaign staff have been charged in connection with the investigation, but the probe has expanded beyond the one former staffer, Braddock, who was arrested in late May.

The winner of the three-way Democratic primary will face the winner of a four-way Republican primary in the Fifth District. With two weeks to go before the mid-August vote, state Senate Minority Leader John McKinney is also calling for an investigation by state lawmakers into the possible campaign finance violations.