UNCASVILLE — Dave Walker is questioning whether fellow Republican Penny Bacchiochi should remain in the lieutenant governor’s race after the upstate representative accused him of bigotry.
“I think she’s gotta decide whether she’s gonna stay in the race,” said Walker, former U.S. comptroller general, told Hearst Connecticut Media Friday as the state GOP convention opened at Mohegan Sun.
Walker said that the Stafford Springs lawmaker still has offered no evidence to support her claim — made Thursday during radio and television interviews — that Walker’s campaign tried to talk delegates out of supporting Bacchiochi because she is married to a black man.
“That’s the nuclear option,” said Walker, who resides in Bridgeport. “She’s lost support because of this. It shows poor judgment. I’m the victim here and people recognize it.”
Walker said Bacchiochi still hasn’t offered him an apology, either.
“At a minimum, I think that’s what I ought to get,” Walker said. “It’s just beyond pale.”
Walker is the center of attention of the opening day of the GOP conclave, where the scuttlebutt is that gubernatorial hopeful John McKinney could choose Walker to be his running mate.
“Well, I’ve had several gubernatorial candidates come to me,” Walker said. “Lots of chess pieces are moving on the board.”