Courting City, Murphy Predicts Clean Election

On a two-day quest for crucial New Haven votes, Chris Murphy stood in line for a hamburger at Louis’ Lunch and then expressed in confidence in the integrity of the election process, while standing in a senior center plagued earlier this year with alleged absentee ballot fraud.

Murphy, the Democrat running against Republican Linda McMahon for Connecticut’s open U.S. Senate seat, made two stops in New Haven Friday in a last-minute sprint before Tuesday’s election. He plans to return to New Haven for two more events on Saturday to rally his base.

“This is a really important city,” said Murphy while waiting on line at the historic hamburger shop on Crown Street Friday afternoon. ​“I’ve spent a lot of time here over the last two years. He said his troops will be knocking on ​“thousands” of New Haven voters’ doors over the weekend. ​“We expect to get a big victory in New Haven.”

His remarks came as both candidates are focusing on the city that has come to provide Democrats the biggest vote pluralities in statewide elections. Murphy, whose campaign has struggled to excite grassroots enthusiasm in New Haven, is believed to need a big turnout here this year to defeat McMahon; McMahon, looking to hold down Murphy’s urban margin, in turn has opened an office downtown.

In addition, McMahon, in the fight for New Haven, has expressed concern about the fairness of ballots and filed suit against the city in state court, a move some opponents characterized as a tactic to complicate voting in a Murphy stronghold. (McMahon’s team has since withdrawn that complaint. Read about that here and here.)

Just this week, the city disqualified 15 absentee ballots that had been collected improperly at Casa Otoñal, a senior citizen complex in the Hill, and allegedly transported to New Haven’s clerk’s office by a paid member of the statewide campaign staff.

“Trust”

In his quest to rally the base, Murphy showed up Friday afternoon to a different senior complex, the Park Ridge Apartments, a 160-unit apartment complex for the elderly and disabled at the base of West Rock.

That happened to be the site of a separate instance of alleged absentee ballot fraud in a March co-chair race. An 87 year-old woman who lives there said workers from a local party campaign had brought her an absentee ballot, told her to sign it, then took it away and submitted it, one of several instances of alleged fraud in that election.

Informed of that coincidence, Murphy said he wasn’t aware of the allegations, which are still under investigation by the state elections enforcement commission.

Murphy on Friday said he’s not concerned about voter suppression by his opponent. nor about absentee ballot fraud.

“I trust everybody’s playing by the rules,” he said.

He said he’s focused, instead, on motivating his base to get to the polls.

He showed up shortly before 2 p.m. to Park Ridge at 40 Austin St. He walked to the basement, where Democratic ward co-chair Audrey Tyson had arranged the stop for Murphy and U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro.

Ted Kennedy, Jr., of Branford, joined them in speaking before some 100 seniors. Tyson is a ward co-chair whose campaign had been the focus of the absentee ballot complaints in March. (She denied any improprieties.)

“Some of you have never met me before,” Murphy told the crowd. ​“You may have seen me in some of Linda McMahon’s TV ads.”

He recounted his mother’s modest upbringing in New Britain, vowed to fight for Social Security and Medicare, and asked for seniors’ votes.

Dawn Guercia said she hadn’t previously had a good impression of Murphy, a U.S. Congressman from the western part of the state, before Friday.

“I was not impressed with him on the TV ads at all,” she said. She said he looked ​“stoic” and never smiled. After seeing him speak Friday, she pronounced herself ​“very, very impressed.” He is ​“charming,” she added.

Guercia said she hasn’t voted yet and does not discuss whom she votes for.

A Turn In Line

About an hour earlier, Murphy stopped into the birthplace of the hamburger for a bite to eat and a chance to shake some hands. Asked why he chose Louis’ Lunch, he replied, ​“It’s good food.” And ​“I have to eat.” He said his wife used to live in New Haven when she worked for New Haven legal aid. He used to go to Louis’ on visits to New Haven to see her, before they got married.

Murphy’s team placed an order on his behalf. As Murphy came near the counter, cook Paul DeNegre (pictured) took a moment to razz the candidate.

“You never paid your tab from last week!” said DeNegre, referencing McMahon’s ads highlighting Murphy’s late mortgage payments.

DeNegre, who lives in East Haven, later said he was only giving Murphy a hard time. ​“I’m voting for Chris,” he said.

Ted Kennedy, Jr., son of the late senator of the same name, has been campaigning with Murphy for the past two weeks. He showed up to Louis’ and ordered four burgers.

He waited, like everyone else, for the slices of white bread to make their way around the conveyer-belt toaster, and for the burgers to sizzle just the right amount in their vertical ovens before emerging from the tiny kitchen.

Murphy sat down next to Alderman Doug Hausladen and ate a burger with cheese (no ketchup). Kennedy appeared impatient for his order.

“Where am I on that dance card?” Kennedy (pictured) asked in good humor.

“Same place you were last time you asked,” DeNegre replied.

Most of the people Murphy met at Louis’ hailed from outside the city — towns like Wethersfield, Seymour, and North Haven.

One New Haven voter, an accountant named Carlos Medeiros, revealed that he had applied to work for McMahon’s campaign. He said he interviewed directly with McMahon for the job. He didn’t get the job, and he didn’t end up working for any campaigns. Even though he applied to work for McMahon, he said he plans to vote for Murphy.

“I keep my political views and my work separate,” he said.

Murphy plans to return to the city Saturday for a rally with supporters at 2 p.m.