Ned Lamont's campaign manager is demanding that Democratic opponent Dan Malloy take down a TV ad that touts Malloy's job-creation efforts during his tenure as mayor of Stamford.
In the ad, Malloy claims to have "helped create nealy 5,000 new jobs." But an analysis by my colleague Chris Keating found that employment in Stamford actually fell during Malloy's tenure.
"Job creation is the single most pressing concern to the people of Connecticut in this economy, and I'm disappointed to see in today's Hartford Courant that Dan Malloy is inflating his record on this issue. Unfortunately, it's something that career politicians do all too often," said Lamont campaign manager Joe Abbey said in a statement.
"The facts brought to light today show that despite the claims Dan makes in his TV ad, the city of Stamford lost 13,000 jobs during his tenure as mayor,'' Abbey added. "He should do the right thing and take this misleading ad off the air."
Malloy shot back almost immediately. "My record on jobs and economic development is crystal clear: during my time as Mayor, Stamford added nearly 5,000 new jobs,'' he said via email.
"That's an indisputable fact. Actually, that number is probably conservative. RBS, UBS, Purdue Pharma, Bank of Ireland, Jeffries, Thomson Reuters, Fuji, NBC, Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Carol Lee, Aon Insurance, Greenwich Associates, Lloyds of London, NBC, Rockefeller & Co., Unilever, Columbus Circle Investors, Burlington Coat Factory, Modells, Hampton Inn, Rochdale Securities, Gartner Group - all of these companies, and others, brought new jobs to Stamford. As a result, small businesses across the city flourished from this increase in people working in Stamford,'' Malloy said.