After weeks of being bombarded with allegations that state Sen. Andrew Roraback is a vote for the Republican “tea party” agenda, the candidate hosted House Speaker John Boehner during a fund raiser at the Hartford Club Tuesday.
“John Boehner is coming to Connecticut to raise money for Andrew Roraback because he knows that Andrew Roraback is another vote to continue the extreme tea party agenda,” Jeb Fain, a spokesman for Rorback’s opponent in the 5th District Congressional race, Elizabeth Esty, said last week in response to news that Boehner was visiting the state.
Roraback however said Tuesday that he spoke with Boehner during the event about the need for the Republican Party to a “big tent that welcomes people from across the spectrum, particulary on social issues. Roraback describes himself as a social moderate and fiscal conservative.
“This is not about the national party pulling me to the right, this is about me pulling the national party to the center and committing ourselves to finding solutions,” he said.
About 80 people attended the event, Roraback said, including represenatives from several insurance firms such as Aetna, Travelers and The Hartford.
When asked if he discussed his support for repealing the Affordable Health Care act with the insurance representatives, Roraback said “we talked about how this country can put itself on an economic footing that will allow for the creation of more middle class jobs.”
The maximum donation for the event was $2,500, although Roraback said “there were a lot of people who contributed significantly less than that.” He declined to say how much was raised from the event.