With a chance to pick up a Republican seat in a tough year for his party nationally, the chairman of the Democratic Governors Association came to Hartford on Monday to boost the campaign of former Stamford mayor Dannel Malloy.
Jack Markell, who is the governor of Delaware, fit the capital city into his busy election schedule because he is betting that Malloy can win the race against Republican Tom Foley next week.
"This is an important state to us,'' Markell said. "We've made a significant investment here. This is a big race for us as well as a big race for the people of Connecticut.''
The Democratic association is spending $50 million nationally on about 24 races, and some of that includes money criticizing Foley in TV commercials regarding his dealings with The Bibb Company in Georgia. On the flip side, the Republican governors are helping Foley with TV and radio commercials that criticize Malloy.
Markell, who knows Hartford from his days more than 20 years ago as a consultant for Northeast Utilities, was headed to Vermont immediately after leaving Hartford and received a police escort from the North End to the nearby Interstate 91 entrance.