Big Money Ad Campaign Drowns Out Other Candidates

Rep. John Larson is ramping up his re-election campaign operation in the face of a tough, well-funded candidate who has saturated the airwaves.

No, it's not Ann Brickley, the little-known 1st District Republican nominee trying to unseat Larson. Larson's campaign says his biggest foe this season is shaping up to be Linda McMahon, the GOP Senate contender, whose $40 million self-funded campaign is having a ripple effect on other Connecticut contests.

"We've got to hammer away at getting our message out in a sea of negative ads," Larson said Wednesday, a day after his campaign unveiled its first TV spot of the season. Larson said he's worried voters will feel besieged by the onslaught of negative ads and decide to stay home on Nov. 2.

"It has a cumulative effect," he said. "You watch these ads and say 'A pox on both their houses.'"

In another other election year, Larson would have little to worry about. The six-term Democrat has walked away with more than 70 percent of the vote in each of his last three re-election bids. And this election, he has swamped his opponent in fundraising, raising more than $2 million to Brickley's$250,000, most of which is a loan Brickley made to her campaign.

A third candidate, Ken Krayeske of the Green Party, has not filed a report with the Federal Elections Commission; reporting is not required from campaigns that have raised less than $5,000.

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