This from Senate Minority Leader John McKInney:
“State Senate Republican Leader and gubernatorial candidate John McKinney (R-Fairfield) today called upon all candidates for the Republican nomination for governor to join him in a series of debates between now and the State Party Convention on May 17. Specifically, Senator McKinney is calling for a total of 10 debates, two in each of the state’s five Congressional districts.
McKinney, State Senator Toni Boucher, Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton, and Joe Visconti of West Hartford participated in a 2-hour gubernatorial debate hosted by the Brookfield Republican Town Committee on Sunday evening. McKinney said the four candidates who participated and the two who did not – former U.S. Ambassador to Ireland Tom Foley and Shelton Mayor Mark Lauretti – owe it to Connecticut Republicans to hold similar debates across the state.
“Connecticut Republicans deserve the opportunity to ask questions and hear first-hand from the candidates they will choose between for the Republican nomination. The nomination should not be decided by 30-second television ads, three sentence sound bites, and glossy oversized mail pieces. Rather, candidates need to state specifically where they stand on the important issues of the day. This election is too important,” said McKinney.
“A series of issue-oriented debates will not only serve to highlight the strengths of the candidates on our side of the aisle, but it will also put the Republican message on a more level playing field with a governor who is leveraging, if not exploiting, all the powers of incumbency to campaign for reelection across the state.”
McKinney said his campaign would be reaching out to other GOP candidates to seek participation. The campaign is working with major Connecticut news organizations, civic groups, chambers of commerce, and Republican organizations to identify venues and hosts.”