After receiving an email from Paul Turenne urging me to register to vote in Connecticut, I decided that it was high time I figured out what the political scene was like in our current state. From faked veteran records to World Wrestling Entertainment owners, Connecticut politics have been anything but boring. Boasting two of the most exciting races in the country, your vote in Connecticut could not only make a difference on a statewide scale, but on the national level as well. The Connecticut primary was August 11^th, so the Democratic and Republican candidates have entered into the heat of the battle. Get informed and make a decision.

Gubernatorial Race

Dan Malloy (D)- “Values and experience that money can’t buy.”

Malloy served four terms as Stamford mayor before running for Governor from 1995 to 2009. He first announced his bid for governor in 2006 but lost in a close primary race to New Haven Mayor John DeStefano, Jr. Malloy won the Democratic Party’s endorsement for Governor over opponent Ned Lamont with a 68-32 vote and won the primary 58% – 42% after lagging in the polls. Lamont, a multi-millionaire, garnered name-recognition when he defeated longtime Senator Joe Lieberman in the 2006 Democratic Primary before losing to Lieberman (then running as an independent) in the general election . Malloy’s main campaign promises are to create universal health care coverage, strengthen environmental protection, and promote economic growth.

Tom Foley (R)- “Let’s get Connecticut working again.”

Foley was the Director of Private Sector Development for the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq from 2003 to 2004 and oversaw state-owned enterprises and three state ministries. He was appointed the U.S. ambassador to Ireland after raising $100,000 for George Bush’s first election. Foley originally announced that he would run for Senate against Chris Dodd, but when Governor Jodi Rell announced she wasn’t running again, he decided to seek the Republican Party’s endorsement. Foley won a three-way primary with 42% of the vote. Foley’s main issues are job creations, reducing government spending and reducing taxes.

Senatorial Race

Earlier last year, Senator Chris Dodd was thought of as one of the Senators most likely to lose a campaign for re-election after a drawn-out ethics scandal that never amounted to anything significant. This campaign has become one of the most important in the nation because of its potential to sway the balance of power in the upper chamber of Congress.

Richard Blumenthal (D) – “Blumenthal for Connecticut”

Blumenthal has been the Connecticut Attorney General since 1991. As of late, two major scandals rocked his election campaign. He originally said that he has never received Political Action Committee (PAC) money, but in the first quarter of 2010 he reported over $2,000 in PAC donations to his campaign. In May, the New York Times published an article stating that Blumenthal had lied about his involvement in the Vietnam War. He served in the Marine Corp but never actually went overseas, prompting controversy about whether he misspoke in the public setting about his service in Vietnam. President Obama is slated to headline a September 16^th fundraiser for Blumenthal. His main issues are job creation, green energy and education improvements.

Linda McMahon (R)- “Preserving the American dream.”

McMahon is better known as the mogul and manager of World Wrestling Entertainment. She bought the company with her husband in 1980 and was its manager for nearly 30 years, working through a major steroid scandal in 1993. Governor Rell appointed McMahon to the Connecticut Board of Education in 2009. In 2010 she announced her campaign for Senate and stated that she would spend up to $50 million of her own money on her campaign in order to not take campaign contributions from special interest groups. She trounced her two opponents in the August primary on a platform of fiscal conservatism, job creation and economic growth.