Connecticut Republicans are set to battle for their party’s nomination in two primaries on Tuesday as the state’s GOP struggles to regain a foothold in Congress in a political environment that has swung heavily toward Democrats for years.
Six federal races are on the ballot this year, but only two of them have contested primaries: Republicans have a pair of candidates running in both the U.S. Senate race and the 4th Congressional District in Fairfield County.
None of the Democratic incumbents face primaries on Tuesday. Connecticut’s delegation has seen little turnover in recent years, and some lawmakers have been in office for decades. This year’s most competitive race, in the 5th Congressional District, does not have any contested primaries. Democratic Rep. Jahana Hayes is slated to face Republican George Logan in a rematch with the U.S. House majority on the line again.
Republicans acknowledge the tough battle ahead in the fall. U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., is running for a third term, and U.S. Rep. Jim Himes, D-4th District, is seeking his ninth term during a presidential cycle where Democrats hold a major advantage.
The GOP has not won a U.S. Senate election in Connecticut since 1982. And Republican Chris Shays held the 4th District for more than two decades until he was unseated by Himes, who has held the congressional seat ever since 2008. The once-competitive House district has now become one of the safest blue seats in the state.
In the Senate primary, Gerry Smith, a first selectman from Beacon Falls and the convention-endorsed candidate, will compete against Matthew Corey, a bar owner from Manchester and Navy veteran who lost to Murphy in the 2018 race.
And in the 4th District, Bob MacGuffie, a former financial executive who won the party’s endorsement, will face off against Michael Goldstein, a physician and attorney who lost the GOP primary for the same seat in 2022.
There is little daylight between the GOP candidates on the issues. They largely align on economic issues like inflation, concerns about the U.S.-Mexico border, high utility bills and traffic congestion on major highways. But they differ more on personality and the style in which they prosecute the case against the Democratic incumbents.
Overall, the primaries have drawn a lot less attention and money compared to past election cycles.
In 2022, the three-way GOP primary for Senate among Leora Levy, Themis Klarides and Peter Lumaj captivated national attention even with the eventual nominee seen as a long-shot to win the election. The candidates raised substantial money that helped them compete on the airwaves. And a last-minute endorsement from Donald Trump shook up the race in the final weeks. That helped Levy prevail over Klarides, the convention-endorsed candidate.
But this year’s primaries have been much quieter. The GOP candidates have struggled to fundraise at similar levels and have not been able to wage the same advertising strategy as in previous years. They said they will need to step up and raise much more money by November to at least compete with the incumbents.
“We got to raise money. The only way we’re going to do that is to show people that you’re making an effort, and call out policy and hope that we’ll get noticed,” Corey said. “Other than that, it’s a sleepy race. So that’s what we have to do.”
GOP primary for U.S. Senate
Smith was hoping to avoid a primary after clinching nearly 70% of the vote in a four-way contest at the GOP convention this spring. Corey entered the race late but won enough of the vote at the convention to force a primary.
“A primary doesn’t help anybody but Sen. Murphy, because it’s tough to raise money, and it’s tough to start the fight in August,” Smith said in his May acceptance speech.
Smith said in an interview that the primary has “slowed things down” and put more of a financial burden on taxpayers by holding a primary. But he believes the silver lining to a primary is that it has raised his profile a bit more.
“The fact that there’s even a primary has been a challenge,” Smith said. “In some ways, it got me some air time and got my name out there a little more.”
But Corey argued that a primary challenge ensured that the fight for the U.S. Senate was not an “afterthought.”
Smith and Corey have sparred over their track records in past campaigns and the best approach to taking on the two-term Democratic senator. Smith has won several times as first selectman in Beacon Falls. Corey unsuccessfully ran three times against U.S. Rep. John Larson, D-1st District, as well as against Murphy in 2018.
Citing his past campaign for Senate, Corey believed Republicans needed a more forceful candidate than his opponent to take on Murphy.
“Nobody was making the case why Sen. Murphy doesn’t deserve another six years. I was willing to take the backlash,” Corey said, referencing some of the pushback he received for staying in the race after Smith’s convention endorsement.
But Smith said Corey’s approach has not been effective or enough, arguing that “going after Murphy is more than just mean tweets.”
Neither Republican candidate had the money needed for TV ads, though they said they both found other ways of reaching primary voters.
Corey said he spent money on mailers and a billboard on I-84 while focusing more on social media. He emphasized the importance of spending on television before November. And he hopes the Republican presidential ticket would consider campaigning here despite Connecticut not being a swing state. He said he shares a similar background to vice presidential candidate JD Vance.
Smith said he spent more of his money on digital ads as well as text and emails. If he gets past the primary on Tuesday, he believes he will be able to raise enough for some TV ads and mailers.
The candidate who emerges as the nominee will have to significantly ramp up their fundraising. Smith ended July with just $4,200 left in the bank, while Corey has $32,000.
But they are unlikely to come close to Murphy’s campaign account of $9.7 million.
GOP primary for 4th District
MacGuffie and Goldstein also similarly align on many of the issues. Both brought up the traffic congestion on I-95 and the hope for federal funding to tackle it. They also both emphasized the importance of Republicans doing more voter outreach in cities like Bridgeport that have trended Democratic.
But there is a similar clash of personalities in the 4th District’s Republican primary.
MacGuffie got in the race earlier and secured the endorsement at the May convention on the second ballot. While he has the party’s official backing, Goldstein got endorsements from a number of elected officials in Greenwich as well as state Senate GOP Leader Stephen Harding and Levy, the 2022 GOP nominee for U.S. Senate.
Goldstein argued that MacGuffie is “more interested in yelling” about Himes than in finding solutions and giving voters a reason to back an alternative to the congressman.
But MacGuffie believes it is “not the season” for finding compromise in an already divided Congress and that Goldstein’s approach will turn off Republican base voters.
MacGuffie, a longtime member of Fairfield’s Republican Town Committee who had led the Connecticut Tea Party, vowed to only serve two terms in Congress if elected.
“What I’m trying to do is to motivate Republicans not to give up,” MacGuffie said, adding that he wants Republicans to try to “appeal to the unaffiliated [voters] who are looking for people to take a strong stand on their behalf. They’re not the mushy middle. They are principled people.”
“None have taken an aggressive stance against [Himes], and that’s what I offer,” he said.
But Goldstein argued that his career as a doctor helps him connect with voters of all types of backgrounds and gives him an edge.
Like the U.S. Senate race, Republicans running for the 4th District also have a financial disadvantage. Himes has $2.2 million in his campaign account for the fall. To better compete, MacGuffie and Goldstein have loaned themselves money for the campaign.
MacGuffie raised nearly $48,000 and gave himself a loan of $50,000. He would go into the general election with about $42,000.
Goldstein brought in nearly $34,000 and loaned himself $75,000. He has $98,000 in his campaign account. He is open to loaning himself more money if he wins the primary and said he would use more cost-effective methods to help make up the difference.
Turnout for Tuesday’s primaries will likely be low. It remains to be seen if Connecticut’s adoption of early voting will boost voter turnout, which started on Aug. 5 and ended on Sunday.
Unaffiliated voters, who make up the largest share of voters in the state, cannot vote in the primaries unless they enrolled in a political party by noon on Monday. That will allow them to cast a vote on Election Day.
“A Republican running is an underdog. It’s a tough battle of getting a message out to independent voters and strongly enough to the polls,” Goldstein said. “Turnout in this particular primary is going to be very low.”
The Connecticut Mirror/Connecticut Public Radio federal policy reporter position is made possible, in part, by funding from the Robert and Margaret Patricelli Family Foundation.
This story was originally published by the Connecticut Mirror.
