In their final televised debate before next week's election, Democrat Dannel Malloy and Republican Tom Foley clashed Tuesday night over the death penalty, the state budget and how to help the state recover economically as thousands of citizens remain unemployed.
The debate began with a discussion of the sluggish economy, the lack of jobs, and the state's projected $3.4 billion budget deficit in the 2012 fiscal year, which the new governor will be facing upon taking office in early January.
The contest came on a day as polls show that the race is tightening with less than one week to go. The latest Quinnipiac University poll showed Tuesday that Malloy is ahead by 5 percentage points with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.7 points. In addition, a Rasmussen poll places Malloy ahead by 3 points with a margin of error of four points. At the same time, Foley notes that his internal tracking polls show that he is actually in the lead.
While the campaign has been marked by a series of negative TV commercials by the candidates and the Democratic and Republican governors associations, the candidates focused largely on the issues Tuesday for one hour.
Malloy said one of the biggest problems facing the state economy is that state residents are paying 76 percent more for electricity than the national average.
"It's been a long road that we've gone done,'' Malloy said of the campaign season. "We don't benchmark our tax system ... against Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York State. ... We're currently paying 20 percent more for electricity than any other state in New England.''
Biotech, biomedical, life sciences, green technology, insurance and reinsurance should be the places to expand because the state already has natural advantages in those industries in companies across the state, he said.
Foley responded that only two states have lost jobs over the past 20 years - Michigan and Connecticut.
"I'll serve as a check and balance on our legislature,'' Foley said.
Foley intends to close the budget gap by cutting spending by $2 billion and then collecting an additional $500 million in federal funding. The final $1 billion gap would be closed by increased revenues as the economy gets stimulated and jobs are created, he said. But many believe that Foley's view of generating an extra $1 billion in tax collections is overly optimistic for the next fiscal year because the economy remains stagnant.
One of the chief ways of saving money, Foley said, would come through shifting some residents out of high-cost nursing homes and moving them to community-based care in the way that Oregon does.
When Malloy was asked which taxes he would raise, he responded, "I reject the premise of the question. I don't want to raise anyone's taxes. ... Lowell Weicker promised never to propose an income tax, but he did. John Rowland said he would repeal the income tax, and he never did. Jodi Rell promised never to raise taxes'' but eventually did.
"My opponent has criticized me for not being specific,'' Foley said regarding budget cuts. "I know there's a lot of waste and duplication. ... You need to be more frank about how much you're going to increase people's taxes.''
In the same way, Malloy said to Foley: "I think you're going to raise everybody's property taxes.''
Malloy reiterated his point that he cut the cityside portion of Stamford's budget by 8.4 percent - covering the positions that he controlled.
"I'm ready for this challenge, believe me,'' Malloy said.
"I want to be very clear,'' Malloy said, using one of his trademark phrases. "We need to save money everywhere we can.''
Malloy charged that Foley's plan would increase the deficit by $1 billion from additional Medicaid costs, but Foley said there was nothing in his plan like that.
When asked by political reporter Tom Monahan if he could provide proof to his charges that Malloy is "in the pocket'' of the state-employee unions, Foley said, "I can.''
Foley noted that Malloy had checked a box on a union questionnaire that he was opposed to layoffs.
"I don't think a governor should enter into any agreements like that,'' Foley said, adding that the union leaders helped Malloy to get elected in the August primary and are now supporting him in the general election.
"I want to make this very clear. I've made no deals, no side deals, no commitments other than to treat people with respect,'' Malloy said, noting that he had little union support in the past.
"You should treat them with respect. I'll say it again and again and again.''
Malloy criticized the move by then-Gov. John G. Rowland to sign a 20-year deal, which expires in 2017, with the state-employee unions regarding benefits, adding that it was "the worst case scenario.''
Malloy said he has already been meeting with the leaders of Aetna, CIGNA, United Healthcare and other top insurance companies in order to open up a dialogue and ensure that they maintain their workforces of thousands of workers.
"These are patriotic people that I look forward to working with,'' Malloy said, adding that Des Moines has become as strong as Hartford in the insurance industry.
Foley countered by saying he has met with the leaders of manufacturing companies, including Hartford-based United Technologies Corporation.
During the first break in the hour-long debate, the first commercial was an attack ad by Foley against Malloy, saying that Malloy served as mayor of Stamford at a time when the city lost more than 13,000 jobs since the peak employment year of 2000. Foley ran another negative ad against Malloy, saying he would raise taxes. During the break, none of Malloy's commercials were broadcast.
In the segment in which the candidates could ask each other a question, Foley said, "The voters really need to know what Dan's plan is to raise taxes.''
"I want to be very clear. We're not raising taxes,'' Malloy said, adding that previous governors had not kept their promises about taxes. "Lowell Weicker's was broken. John Rowland's was broken. Jodi Rell's was broken. ... We need to cut, cut, cut.''
When Malloy got the chance to ask a question to Foley, he asked Foley why he "lied to the FBI'' by failing to disclose a felony arrest in the Hamptons on Long Island that occurred in 1981.
"Truthfulness is a very important factor,'' Foley responded. "These issues, Dan, were taken care of in the primary. ... I flip the question back to you, Dan. You have definitely said things that were untrue.''
"When the FBI asked if you had been arrested for a felony, you said no,'' Malloy responded.
The Courant's Jon Lender notes that Foley acknowledged in July that he'd answered "no" on federal background-check forms when asked if he'd ever been charged with a felony, or with anything more than a "minor traffic offense" -- even though he'd been arrested, but not convicted, twice. He was arrested in 1981 on a felony charge of first-degree attempted assault and in 1993 on a misdemeanor charge of breach of peace.
Questions he answered "no" to - while applying for service and a security clearance in the George W. Bush administration - included: "Have you ever been charged with or convicted of any felony offense?" But Foley was charged in 1981, at age 29, with attempted first-degree assault, and kept in a cell overnight, after occupants of a vehicle complained that he had rammed their car with his on Long Island. He told The Courant in an interview this year that it was really only a minor, low-speed traffic incident and the charge was later dropped. "Nobody ever told me it was a felony offense," he said, adding that he would have answered differently to the federal background-check questions if he had known at the time.
Foley said he believed that both the 1981 arrest and the 1993 breach of peace charge involving a dispute with his former wife, related to what he considered minor traffic incidents and the charges were dropped.
The candidates were then asked if they would end the numerous negative attack commercials that have been running constantly on Connecticut TV screens. Foley said he offered to Malloy to run the campaign without negative ads.
"He would not even sit down and talk to me about this,'' Foley said. "I've had to rebut some of these things with my own ads. ... I'm not using taxpayer dollars for negative ads.''
Malloy countered that his first 60-second commercial was positive, while Foley countered with a negative ad. "You just saw a couple of ads, and in one of those ads, there wasn't a single footnote,'' Malloy said in a campaign that has become known for phantom footnotes.
"Tom has cleary said time and time again that I want to raise your taxes,'' Malloy said. "I don't want to raise your taxes. ... I have watched the last three governors and this candidate, Tom Foley, make promises about taxes. ... No, I don't want to raise your taxes, but Tom will probably say that again.''
"What most upsets me about what Dan has said is about my business record. I am very proud of my business record,'' Foley said. "Being governor of Connecticut is like being the head of a family ... and that's what I did in my business career.''
Malloy said he would start using GAAP and results-based accounting to the state budget.
Malloy read from Foley's web site about Foley's "core-needs'' health care plan.
"Dan, you're running for governor, not prosecutor,'' Foley said. "Please, read the plan. ... It's not about taking away healthcare coverage from anyone.''
The final debate Tuesday night came as several polls showed that the race is essentially a dead heat, and some national political watchers now rate the contest as a "toss-up.''
Earlier Tuesday, the latest Quinnipiac University poll showed Malloy ahead by 5 percentage points among likely voters with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.7 percentage points. Overall, 7 percent of those polled said they were still undecided, and another 11 percent said they could change their mind before voting next week.
Foley said in an interview that his campaign has the momentum - as shown by the nightly tracking polls that the campaign has been conducting.
"The polls have tightened,'' Foley told Capitol Watch. "We had ourselves ahead in the last couple of nights. They know this race is even and moving away from them.''