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It’s tough running a campaign against Republican millionaire Linda McMahon’s slickly produced second bid for U.S. Senate.

The ex-World Wrestling Entertainment executive has got the personal fortune to ensure those polished, touchy-feely job creator ads are in constant rotation on cable with the polished hits on Democratic opponent, U.S. Rep. Chris Murphy.

And when Murphy has attempted to fight back, it’s looked like something out of a high school film class…

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Now, on the heels of one poll showing McMahon with a three point lead in blue Connecticut, Murphy’s campaign is getting more aggressive.

The campaign today released this new ad with the slogan, “Linda McMahon, always for her, never for us.”

The spot goes after not only WWE as a business – a tactic Democrats successfully used against McMahon in her 2010 Senate bid – but also her tax returns.

Murphy’s staff also today launched a cheeky series of roundtables to hear how people in Connecticut “would better use the $7 million personal tax break” she’d receive under her jobs plan.

It still can’t compete with the barrage of McMahon advertising, but Democrats have got to be happy to see Murphy does not intend to spend the next two months before the general election as a punching bag.

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Since Chris Donovan lost last Tuesday’s Democratic primary, there has been a lot of speculation about whether the retiring state House Speaker from Meriden will continue his run for Congress as the Working Families Party candidate.

Donovan received the party’s endorsement and it is up to him to tell the Secretary of the State to leave his name on the ballot for the 5th District seat or pull it off.

It’s hardly a scientific poll, but two Donovan backers I interviewed Wednesday said he should leave the race. One feared if Donovan runs as the Working Families candidate he will take votes away from the Democratic nominee – Elizabeth Esty – and hand the race to Republican Andrew Roraback.

The other said they did not see the point in Donovan continuing his bid because the campaign finance scandal that damaged the Speaker’s candidacy hasn’t gone away.

Like I said, hardly scientific, but valid points.

Anyway today leaders of the Working Families Party, likely tired of fielding questions about Donovan’s political future, released the following statement advising everyone to chill out for a few days/weeks.

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Julie Kushner, Kurt Westby, and Sal Luciano, the co-chairs of the Connecticut Working Families Party State Committee, have released the following statement:

When Chris Donovan returns from vacation, we’ll have a conversation with him about remaining on the Working Families ballot line. State law leaves the decision in Chris Donovan’s hands. If he chooses to give up the line, the Working Families Party will go through our regular, democratic process to determine how to fill the vacancy in the next few weeks.

The Working Families Party has a responsibility to voters and our supporters to ensure that our  nominations go to candidates who will stand up for the values that affect working and middle class families. The value of our endorsement comes, in part, from the integrity of this process.

The Working Families Party is an independent grassroots party that fights for the 99%. WFP evaluates the records of all the candidates and supports only those with a proven track record of standing up for working-class and middle-class families on issues like good jobs, affordable healthcare, fair taxes and quality schools.

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State Rep. Andres Ayala, D-Bridgeport, and supporters like Bridgeport Mayor Bill Finch have said if elected to the state Senate in November, Ayala will be the first Latino member.

I checked the claim last week with the state’s Latino and Puerto Rican Affairs Commission and Werner Oyanadel, the acting executive director, confirmed it.

But after mentioning it in print, a reader in an email suggested late former Republican Senator M. Adela Eads of Kent beat Ayala to the distinction but didn’t advertise it.

Here’s what I found out.

According to a special legislative resolution passed following Eads’ death in 2003, she was born Mary Adela Diaz in Brooklyn, New York.

A call to her son, Gregory Eads, confirmed that his mother was half Spanish.

“It would not have been known because her maiden name was not known,” Gregory said. “Her father was 100 percent Spanish (from) the northern shore of Spain.” And mom was Scottish.

Oyanadel said, “We (the commission) focus on the representation from Latin American countries, not Spain or Europe.”

So while he called Eads “a wonderful leader in Connecticut” Oyanadel said Ayala, if elected, will be the first Latino to serve in the Senate.

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State Sen. Ed Gomes, D-Bridgeport, lost Tuesday’s three-way primary for his 23rd District seat but has the option of continuing the fight as the Working Families Party’s candidate.

Gomes earned the third party’s endorsement and his name will appear on their ballot line in November’s general election unless he tells the Secretary of the State to remove it.

The Gomes campaign was not prepared to discuss that alternative before the polls closed Tuesday, when the candidate was still focused on defeating opponents Andres Ayala and Ernie Newton.

Ayala won, Gomes came in third.

On Wednesday I asked Gomes’ campaign manager, Marty Dunleavy, about the Working Families option.

Dunleavy would not say whether the candidate has made any decisions, but did add, “The forces that would be aligned against Ernie Newton, the vast majority of them will be supportive of Andres Ayala.”

Newton, Gomes’ predecessor, went to jail six years ago following a federal corruption probe that concluded he had abused his Senate office.

He was running a campaign of redemption, but many Democrats in the city and in the state Senate were concerned about the possibility of his return to the Capitol. Senate President Donald Williams, D-Brooklyn, Majority Leader Martin Looney, D-New Haven and others visited Bridgeport Tuesday to campaign for Gomes.

So I could envision a scenario where Newton won the primary and the establishment chose to throw its support behind a Gomes’ third party run.

But Ayala, who has the support of Mayor Bill Finch, is not a controversial figure. And while Gomes’ supporters may be disappointed Ayala beat their man, those within the party  mainstream are likely not going to be encouraging Gomes to continue his battle for his seat.

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Retiring state Sen. Edith Prague, D-Columbia, made a second trip to Bridgeport today to campaign for Sen. Ed Gomes.

Gomes lost the party’s endorsement to predecessor Ernie Newton and is now locked in a three-way primary with Newton and state Rep. Andres Ayala. Voters head to the polls Tuesday.

A scheduling conflict kept me from catching up with Prague and Gomes, so I gave her a call at home this evening.

“I would go again and again if he wanted me to,” Prague said. “I want him to be the chair of the Labor (& Public Employees) Committee.”

Gomes, a veteran union leader, is a committee vice-chairman under Prague. When the campaign conversation turns to jobs Gomes has been telling voters he expects to become chairman now that Prague is leaving office.

Prague, 86, is retiring after suffering a minor stroke over the winter. She says she can still do the job, but her doctor advised her to avoid the stress of a campaign.

Gomes, who turns 77 in February and received a triple bypass last year, claims Ayala and Newton are portraying him as too old to return to the General Assembly for another term.

Ayala and Newton have denied the allegation.

“He’s fully recovered,” said Prague, who, following today’s trip to Bridgeport, joined her grandson for a game of golf in Willimantic.

“He’s a real golfer. I haven’t played much in the last couple years,” Prague said. “I had a couple really good shots but my game as a whole is sad.”

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Caught up today with Ernest Newton, veteran state legislator-turned-felon-turned-endorsed Democratic candidate for his former state Senate seat.

Newton is being challenged in next Tuesday’s primary by incumbent state Sen. Ed Gomes and state Rep. Andres Ayala.

Before our afternoon meeting at his headquarters Newton addressed campaign workers who were heading out into the neighborhood to knock on doors and get out the vote.

And Newton knows how to get a crowd of supporters fired up.

Newton told them he does not have the same support as Gomes (labor unions, legislative leaders in Hartford) and Ayala (Bridgeport Mayor Bill Finch, who tried to talk Newton out of running).

“I didn’t have labor. I didn’t have big politicians,” Newton said.

So who does Newton have in his corner? God.

“He’s bigger than any politician in this city,” Newton said. “Mayor Finch and (Finch Chief-of-Staff) Adam Wood – they can’t put me nowhere. So I worry about what God thinks about me.”

At the start of the mini-rally Newton noted primary day is close.

“Seven more days, right?” Newton said.

When the votes have been tallied Tuesday Newton will know whether God decided to rest on the seventh day.

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Ex-Stamford resident Charla Nash, who wants to sue state environmental officials over the injuries she suffered after being mauled by a friend’s pet chimpanzee in 2009, is expected to attend an August 10 hearing in Hartford on the matter.

In order for Nash’s suit to proceed she needs the permission of the state’s Claims Commissioner, a politically-appointed position we wrote about earlier this year.

Claims Commissioner J. Paul Vance scheduled next week’s hearing so Nash’s legal team, Bridgeport-based Willinger, Willinger & Bucci, and the Attorney General, who wants Nash’s bid to sue rejected, can pitch their cases.

Charles Willinger said Nash barring any health issues will be present.

You don’t have to be an attorney to figure having Nash personally tell Vance about the attack and the injuries to her face and hands is a wise move.

 Image of Nash following a face transplant care of NBC’s Today Show.