Republican Martha Dean, whose position on nullification got Connecticut electors thinking about the chances of seceeding from the union if she were to win the state Attorney General race, finally called Democrat George Jepsen to concede the November 2 election and announce she was dropping a legal challenge. Results on the Secretary of the State’s website have been changing over the last two weeks, but still, Jepsen won pretty handily, 591,725 to 480,310, for a 111,415 plurality.
This from Jepsen:
”In a press release and Twitter message on her website, Dean said she would not pursue a legal challenge to Jepsen’s credentials. “It was a pleasure running against George. I acknowledge his victory and I wish him well,” Dean wrote. Dean’s pre-election challenge to Jepsen’s qualifications was dismissed in Hartford Superior Court on Nov. 3.
Jepsen thanked Dean for her conciliatory call. “As Attorney General, my door will always be open to Martha and her supporters as we all work together to get Connecticut moving again,” Jepsen said. “Even while disagreeing on most issues, I always respected Martha Dean’s sincerity, her intelligence, or her commitment to the people of Connecticut. Our contest showed that candidates can disagree without being disagreeable, let alone getting personal, something all too rare in today’s politics.”
Dean said the passage of time and the legislature would likely resolve any questions remaining on the eligibility criteria for Attorney General. “At this juncture, I believe the best path forward is allow the AG-elect to focus on trying to run the AG’s Office in a way that helps pull Connecticut out of its severe crisis,” Dean said.”
The facts:
- The oral verdict issued in May mentioned 10 years as a practising attorney in CT to be eligible,
- The written decison, issued 10 days before the election specified the qualifications as 10 years of litigating law before the Bar, trial (before a judge and jury) experience and admiotted to practise in the courts that the AGs department is required to litigate. Jepson at that point in time had none of this experience, no litigation experiencce, no trial experience and only admitted to the lowest court last Decvember. He was and is not qualified to be your Attorney General. Gene
There is no necessary connection between nullification and succession such that one who embraces nullification also affirms secession.
During the Underground Railroad days, when slavery abolitionists secretly transported slaves who wished to be free from the Southern states to Canada, all the abolitionists in New England nullified the perfectly constitutional Fugitive Slave Act, which compelled every citizen to return escaped slaves to their Southern owners.
Ken has shown in these pages that he has an abiding love of liberty. Had he been alive in the dark days preceding the Civil War, one would like to think he would have taken a position against The Fugitive Slave Act similar to other lovers of liberty such as Henry David Thoreau, the author of “Slavery in Massachusetts” and “Civil Disobedience.” Had he done so, he would have been practicing nullification.