MYSTIC, CT – US Sen. Chris Murphy finished up his annual walk across Connecticut on Thursday, and said the ritual gives him a chance to hear from constituents about “kitchen table issues” that matter to them.
Murphy said the issues that are constantly covered on the major broadcast news channels aren’t the ones that cut to the heart of Connecticut residents.
“What’s remarkable about the walk is that the same issues come up year after year,” the senator said Thursday following his arrival at this year’s finishing point. “People talking about the price of housing, how much money they’re making, the quality of their kids’ schools, the safety of their neighborhoods – it’s kitchen table issues.”
Murphy, a two-term incumbent Democrat, will face one of two Republican opponents in November. Beacon Falls First Selectman Gerry Smith won the Republican Party’s nomination on May 13, but Matt Corey polled enough support to primary Smith in August.
Murphy said there can be a tendency to “chase the headlines,” but that ultimately what’s most important are the issues directly facing residents of the state. Very few of the people he spoke with during his walk from Suffield to Mystic cared about the hushmoney trial involving former President Donald Trump. Instead, he said, they’re “exhausted” with the way politics is covered.
Just finished Day 3 of my annual Walk Across Connecticut. I met a bunch of people today with whom I had political disagreements. And it got me to thinking about how we shouldn’t let our politics define all our relationships. pic.twitter.com/otSMAq5xeF
— Chris Murphy 🟧 (@ChrisMurphyCT) May 30, 2024
“People care about policy,” Murphy said. “They’re pretty frustrated that the way politics is covered leaves policy to the side, and only focuses on the horse race.”
Speaking from the deck of the Thompson Building at the Mystic Seaport Museum, Murphy said that the annual walk – this year was his eighth – gives him an opportunity to find a different perspective.
“I feel like I have a responsibility to show how seriously I take the job,” Murphy said. “That I’m not just sitting in my office and just waiting for people to call me, that I’m willing to go out and see people where they are – to hear everyone’s voice.”
Murphy said that the individual struggles and triumphs of the people he met along his walk remind him how important the job is. Murphy said he spoke to a retirement-age man named Izzy, who is living on $900 of Social Security per month because he has no savings.
Living with three other people, Murphy said Izzy told him “this isn’t how he thought this part of his life was going to go.” Despite working full-time for Walmart for 16 years, Murphy said, Izzy is forced to use food stamps to feed himself.
“It’s almost dehumanizing,” he said, adding later, “That’s just a choice we make as a country. This is a choice we make to not invest in people’s retirement and let wages languish at such a low rate that you can work full time and not have any money for retirement.”
Nor investing in issues like housing – a hot button topic that remains in purgatory with several landmark bills unable to get through the state legislature during the short session – is one of the major pitfalls for the state and nation, Murphy said.
Still, he shared positive thoughts on the future.
“You see the challenges, you see the possibilities, and then you see all the folks who are taking Risks, making big bets on Connecticut,” he said. “Folks who are doing big things to make our communities better.”
The growth of submarine manufacturer Electric Boat, and the continual contractual relationships between the federal government and the submarine builder and its subcontractors in southeastern Connecticut, is an indicator of imminent growth on the state’s horizon, Murphy said.
Getting the chance to hear all of this from the people of Connecticut he said, makes the week special.
“It sounds cliche but it is just true. It is my favorite week of the year,” Murphy said.
