Murphy Faces Primary in U.S. Senate Bid

U.S. Rep. Chris Murphy of Cheshire received his party's nomination for the U.S. Senate at the Democratic State Convention on Saturday, according to CT News Junkie.

However, all 13 of East Haven's delegates voted for his soon-to-be primary challenger: former Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz.

Statewide, the article notes, Murphy received 76 percent of the delegate vote compared to 24 percent for Bysiewicz. 

Despite the 3-to-1 vote margin, the vote total for Bysiewicz was enough to force a primary in August between the two well-known politicians, the News Junkie article noted.

Total vote numbers show Murphy got 1,378 of the delegate votes and Bysiewicz’s total was 444. New Haven, one of the largest delegations, gave 73 of its votes to Murphy and 10 to Bysiewicz.

“I think we’d be better off as a party without a primary,” Murphy told the News Junkie. He mentioned Republican challenger Linda McMahon already is running television ads for her campaign.  She spent $50 million in her failed Senate bid against Richard Blumenthal two years ago. Reports show she has spent $4 million in this election year.

Murphy announced his candidacy in January 2011. He said at the time that he had to jump into the race early to have enough time for fundraising.

The Republican Party Convention will be held Friday at the Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford.