If anyone was still wearing gloves this week in the three-way race for lieutenant governor, they came off on Monday when one of the candidates released a radio attack ad criticizing the Republican Party’s endorsed candidate.
Heather Bond Somers of Groton accused state Rep. Penny Bacchiochi of Somers of being an “insider” who accepted money to lobby for medical marijuana and who more recently called another candidate “racist” before being forced “to retract her ugly comments.”
“Don’t let Penny Bacchiochi blow Republicans’ chances to take down Dan Malloy’s job-crushing agenda,” the narrator says in the ad.
Bacchiochi makes no apologies for lobbying for medical marijuana, the only drug that eased the terminal cancer pain of her now-deceased former husband. And she believes she’s apologized for the comments she made about David Walker, the third candidate in the race, prior to the May convention.
“I’ve been involved in a lot of campaigns and if you’re losing you go on the attack and if you’re winning you don’t,” Bacchiochi said Wednesday.
She said she’s confident in her record and experience. Bacchiochi said she’s focusing on her vision for the state.
Bacchiochi said her campaign will be releasing their first radio ad next week.
Walker, who has teamed up with Senate Republican Leader John McKinney, released his first television ad this week.
The ad features a photo of him and former President Ronald Reagan.
“I’m a CPA and a Reagan presidential appointee,” Walker says in the ad. He goes onto explain how he was the top auditor of the United States government and was featured on 60-Minutes.
“Making government more efficient and growing our economy is what I do best,” Walker adds.
He doesn’t mention his two female opponents in the race and has for the most part tried to remain above the fray. However, he may have jumped the gun in announcing the first televised debate at a Republican Town Committee meeting in Bridgeport Tuesday.
According to sources the debate was in the early planning stages and the television station hadn’t reached out to all the candidates before the news of the debate was leaked, causing some confusion.
It’s still unclear at the moment, but it’s likely WFSB will host a debate between the three candidates later this month or early in August. The television station declined to comment Wednesday.
