Republican Lawmakers, State Election Regulators Spar During Hearing

HARTFORD, CT — State election regulators laid out their case Thursday during a sometimes contentious four-hour hearing in which they tried to prove that mentioning Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s name on mailers in 2014 without asking his opponent or the Republican Party to pay for it violated state election laws.

“This is a hearing about whether permissible expenditures were made. That’s it,” William Smith, a State Elections Enforcement Commission attorney, said in his closing arguments.

He said the statements opposing Malloy made on the joint mailers by Sen. Joe Markley, R-Southington, and Rep. Rob Sampson, R-Wolcott, were cast in such a way to oppose an individual who was running for statewide office in 2014. He said by joining the Citizens Election Program and receiving tens of thousands of dollars to run their campaign meant they agreed to restrict their spending to candidates who were in the race.

Technically, election regulators said they could have mentioned Malloy’s policies, if they asked the Republican Party or its gubernatorial candidate, Tom Foley, to help pay for the mailers. But they didn’t.

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