In Connecticut, a state that political pundits were all but certain would support Obama, the presidential race offered few surprises. For political junkies, then, the race to watch was the U.S. Senate showdown between Democrat Chris Murphy and Republican Linda McMahon.
The final results saw Murphy besting McMahon with 53.1 percent of the vote, earning himself the Senate seat vacated by retiring Senator Joseph Lieberman. McMahon earned 45.1 percent.
Murphy was the former three-term U.S. Representative from Connecticut’s 5th District. He ran his campaign on a platform of creating jobs, making education more affordable, investing in Connecticut’s infrastructure, and focusing on renewable energy.
McMahon, the former CEO of World Wrestling Entertaining, ran her second campaign for U.S. Senate after losing to current Senator Richard Blumenthal in 2010. Her campaign focused on painting McMahon as a political outsider who would use her business experience to implement a five-step jobs plan to revitalize the economy.
However, the campaign often veered from substantive issues. Both candidates attempted to cast their opponent as someone who would be harmful to Connecticut if elected, and Murphy’s victory represents more than a year of heated rhetoric, incredible spending, and unconventional political tactics.
Probably the most visible display of the campaign was seen in the television ads, aired by both candidates, which many saw as lacking substance and eventually downright annoying.
“By election day I was so sick of the ads from both candidates that I didn’t care who won, I just wanted the election to be over. Their ads didn’t really say much and seemed to be on TV constantly,” Jake Ruskan ‘15 remarked.
In addition to the ads, both candidates called in political favors from national political figures. In the week before the election McMahon toured the state with Chris Christie, while Murphy released an ad in which President Obama endorsed his candidacy.
McMahon also employed several unconventional political tactics in her bid for the seat. In a controversial move, McMahon released an ad and door-hangers encouraging voters who planned to support Obama to cross party lines and support McMahon as well.
Todd Abrajano, McMahon’s spokesperson, responded to criticism of this technique by saying Linda “enthusiastically supports Mitt Romney” and the move was meant to “simply educating Democrats who may also support Linda that they can split their ticket.’’
Both of the candidates ran on two party lines, with Murphy running on the Democratic and Working Families Party lines and McMahon on the Republican and Independent tickets. This move aimed to court voters who may not fall into either of the major parties and was utilized by Governor Dannel Malloy in his 2010 gubernatorial campaign.
At its conclusion, the Connecticut race saw more than $50 million raised by the two candidates and another $10 million spent by outside PAC’s. This made it Connecticut’s most expensive campaign in history.
The majority of this money came from McMahon’s self-financing; the executive contributed approximately $40 million to her campaign, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
With such a tumultuous race behind him, Chris Murphy is looking forward to returning to Washington, now a U.S. Senator.
As for McMahon, her future is uncertain, but many wonder if she will run for elected office again in the future. Junior John Lobo remarked, “It seems like McMahon really wants to be involved in Connecticut politics, so I wouldn’t be surprised if she runs again.” Only time will tell, but for now Connecticut has a new Senator in the form of Chris Murphy.
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